The marriage Law and the Other Brother
by xxKLxx
Summary: A marriage law is introduced after the battle. Hermione returns from Australia, happily in love with Ron and discovers she's been matched with the wrong brother. Hermione/Ron, Hermione/George, Ron/Lavender, Harry/Ginny, Return to Hogwarts, 8th year dorm, Draco redemption, parties, spin the bottle, truth or dare, kiss or dare, depression, sexual scenes, COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello lovely readers and welcome. **

**I am a huge glutton for punishment so have decided that i would write a Marriage Law fic. Not that it think there isn't enough, because i am finding the supply of available stories on this topic unending, however, i am yet to see one that has explored this particular topic. **

**I was going to hold off on revealing the pairing and try and keep it a surprise, but you find out at the end of this chapter anyway, so why not. **

**I was interested to see what would happen to Hermione if she and Ron were together after the war, travelled to Australia then returned to find that the Ministry had implemented a Marriage Law for people in her age group. Then i wanted to NOT pair her with Ron, but make it extremely difficult for the family as a whole when they realised she was paired with one of his brothers. **

**I have tried to make her as close to her character as possible, particularly in the beginning, however, she is quickly growing, changing and morphing into someone completely different. Please expect non canon character representations, as the war changed every single person. **

**Enjoy and please review. **

**Next few chapters are written, waiting on feedback and editing in order to post. **

**As always, i do not own JK's stuff. She does. And always will. **

~~OvO~~

Hermione sat at the kitchen table at the Burrow, sipping on her tea. She stared out the window watching two garden gnomes feign a sword fight, using flower stems.

Ordinarily, she would have found it highly amusing, however, Hermione Granger had not had the mindset to find much amusing since the war ended just over four months ago.

In the days that followed the Battle of Hogwarts, Hermione, Harry, Ron and the Weasleys threw themselves into the efforts to assist with burying the dead and repairing the castle. The castle, being the sentient being that it was, was easily repaired. It conjured the fallen stones mostly by itself and was fully repaired within a matter of weeks. The funerals however began early.

Hermione recalled having sat beside Harry at the funeral of Remus and Tonks, as well as Tonk's father, one of the first to be held, as they farewelled the last of the Marauders. Little Teddy was just an infant with no idea what all the fuss was about. Andromeda Tonks held her grandson in her arms and sobbed as the caskets were lowered into the ground, a sign of finality and the marking of the beginning of a life that she hadn't anticipated on having to live.

The three 'heroes' as they were being called, made an appearance at most of the funerals that were held during that time and showed their faces at the bedsides of those who suffered at St Mungos. Just seeing them appearing to be well was enough to give people the courage to fight through whatever ailments they were

Fred's funeral was held last and all though everyone knew he would have wanted a celebration, rather than a mourning, the atmosphere was heavy with sorrow. George barely showed his face at the Burrow, instead, remaining in the attic of the flat above the shop that he was now solely responsible for, working on things that he told no one about. He attended his twin's funeral, sat in the front row with a blank look on his face. No one really saw George cry, which Hermione knew was a sign of something odd. She attempted to approach him after the wake, once the guests had shaken his hand and disapparated at the gate, however, George make no attempt to talk with anyone before heading to the gate and leaving, himself.

It was only a few short days after that that Hermione travelled across Australia with Ron in search for her parents. It ended up being a most arduous journey, with her parents having moved from the place she had set them up in. In the end, it had taken them two and a half months to track them down, reverse the spell and convince them it was for their own good. When it came time to return to England, however, Hermione's parents chose to stay in the southern New South Wales town they had come to call home.

Hermione wiped a tear from her eyes as she thought about the things she had seen and done over the last several years. She would be 19 in a few days and she felt like she had lived the life of someone in their 40s. She was exhausted beyond belief and was grateful for the opportunity to have no agenda. Nothing to accomplish, nobody to fight.

Hermione had settled into an easy relationship with Ron after the battle. She felt as though they had spent the longest time chasing each other around and around a tree and when they finally caught one another, it was like it was meant to be. Their first kiss was intense and passionate, and Hermione had hoped for more off that to come, however, Ron was so pre occupied with his grief, that the passion initially went by the wayside. The trip to Australia rekindled some of that passion, with the couple having awkwardly taken their relationship to the next level in a 5-star hotel room overlooking Sydney Harbour. It had been the perfect night and Ron was the perfect gentleman, however, it had been difficult to have an opportunity to repeat the event once they returned to the Burrow.

Hermione zoned out as the kitchen filled with people who were in search of breakfast. Hermione continued staring out at the gnomes, watching as they now were in search of artefacts to steal from the surroundings of the house. She watched as they dragged a gum boot into the garden, checking over their shoulder to see if anyone noticed. Hermione would have chuckled if she hadn't felt so blank.

It should have been funny. It was funny, it was highly amusing actually because she knew that Ginny would be looking for that gumboot that day and would curse and stomp around until she found it. Hermione forced herself to smile.

"Hey Mione, how'd you sleep?" came the voice of Ron, as he wrapped his arms around her from behind. He sat beside her, straddling the bench seat of the long table, not taking his arms off her. She turned to face him, and her smile morphed into a genuine one; affection for the man who was now hers.

"I slept well, thanks" she said in reply, a response that she had rehearsed daily, despite not having slept much at all.

"Rubbish Hermione. You tossed and turned all night" Ginny said from the bottom of the stairs.

Hermione looked from Ginny to Ron and suddenly found great interest in her teacup, choosing to stare into its depths than to face the impending conversation.

"You should just stay in my room, Mione" he said.

"With you and Harry? You've got to be kidding?" Ginny said.

"Well smart ass, Harry could stay in your room" Ron suggested.

"She'd never allow it" Ginny said with a shrug as she waved her wand at the bread, turning it quickly and effortlessly into toast.

"We're all of age now Gin, she has no choice" Ron said.

"She has no choice about what?" Molly asked, entering through the back door with a basket of eggs in her arms.

"Mum, I think it's about time you allow us to be the adults that we are and have our partners sleep in our rooms with us" Ron said, standing up now and puffing out his chest.

Molly Weasley just stood in the doorway in stunned silence. She said not one word, just glared at her youngest son and her only daughter.

"Or we could not and just continue with the arrangements as they are?" Ginny said, backhanding Ron in the stomach and going about the morning routine.

"Where's Harry this morning?" Hermione asked after Molly placed a serving of scrambled eggs on the table in front of them.

"More ministry stuff. He left pretty early" Ginny said.

"That Kingsley… He's a great Auror, but he's working Harry far too hard" Molly said.

"Well, at least he offered him a job" Ron said with a mouth full of food.

"Yeah as an auror. I don't think I like the idea of Harry going out catching dark wizards" Ginny said with her arms crossed.

"I'm just glad he's allowing us to return to Hogwarts to finish up our NEWTS" Hermione said.

"Yeah, still not excited about that" Ron said.

"I told you… if you don't want to go you don't have to do it just because I am" Hermione said.

"What would I do otherwise?" Ron asked.

"You could do anything" Hermione said.

"Were you or were you not offered a job alongside Harry?" Ginny asked. Pointing her fork in his direction.

"I've been fighting since I was eleven. I think I'm done" Ron said.

Just as the group was about to get up to get ready for the day, a large barn owl flew in through the kitchen window and landed on the table. Attached to its leg, was a bundle of letters, which Ginny untied quickly.

Ron handed a rasher of bacon over to the owl who hooted happily before flying off in the direction from whence it came.

"There's a letter for each of us, one for Harry and one for Percy too" Ginny said as she handed the letters to Ron and Hermione.

Hermione opened the letter that contained the ministry seal on the back and glanced over it, her eyes widening with shock as she read further down the page.

_Dear Miss Hermione Granger,_

_As you are aware, the recent Wizarding War of the 90s claimed the lives of many wizards, witches and muggles alike. Not since the days f the plague has wizarding Britain seen such low_ _population growth._

_It is the ministry's fear that unless drastic action is taken to increase the population, wizarding numbers will continue to decline until the numbers are such that our species will cease to exist altogether._

_It is with this information and great regret, that the ministry has decided to impose the Marriage Law._

_Please see the included information pack for information relating to the particulars of this law._

_Yours faithfully,_

_The Members of the Wizengamot_

"What a load of rubbish" Hermione said out loud as soon as she was finished.

"They can't do this" Ginny said.

"Hang about, I'm not finished…" Ron said as his eyes read through the rest of the first page. "Wait… a marriage law? What does this mean?" Ron asked, looking to Hermione for answers as she read through the second page that outlined the specifics of the law.

"I can't believe this. I truly can't. It says that the ministry has consulted with the sorting hat to pair those who it deems as a good fit for population regeneration and we will find out via owl post who our matches are" she said, looking to Ginny and Ron.

"That cant be accurate, can it?" Molly asked from the kitchen, moving to where they sat and putting her hand out for the pieces of parchment in Ginny's hands. She read over it, twice each and clutched her hand to her chest.

"As if my family hasn't been through enough, my children will be forced to marry someone they may not even like?" Molly said, to no one in particular. "We shall see about that" She said, removing her apron and storming over to the floo with the parchment in her hands.

"We'll be right though, wont we? I mean, we're already together" Ron said, looking, as always, to Hermione for answers.

"I'm sure the ministry takes into consideration those who are already in relationships" Hermione said.

"I for one will not accept anyone other than Harry as my husband. I'll just revolt" Ginny said, tossing her hair back as she headed for the stairs.

"Ginny, you can't" Hermione said, looking over the stack of parchment in her hands once again.

"I'll just say no. They can't force me to marry someone I don't like" she said.

"Actually, the rules state that if you refuse, you'll be stripped of your magic and forced into obliviation and into the muggle world" Hermione said, fear in her eyes.

The three of them just looked at each other, hoping beyond hope that this won't be another thing in their lives that they must overcome.

~~OvO~~

Hermione and Ron walked hand in hand through the orchard later that morning, on their way to the nearby river.

"What are you thinking about Hermione? You've been quiet since breakfast" Ron said, running his thumb over her knuckles.

"This whole marriage thing. Really, its ridiculous" she said.

"I know. The wizarding population isn't going to just die out" he said.

"Well, I see their fear, I do, but they could have gone about it in a different way" she said.

"I think they're just scared" he suggested.

"Of what?" she asked. "What could they possibly be afraid of?" she asked.

"I have no idea" he said, shrugging his broad shoulders.

"I mean… there are so many other options. They could have required already married adults to have more children. Or they could have left out those under the age of 21, or they could have…" she rambled.

"We'll be ok Hermione. I promise. I would have asked you some time in the next couple of years anyway. Why wait? Why not just do it now?" he asked her.

"There are no loopholes Ron" she said, turning away from him to look at the river bank they were now standing beside. "They said that no engagements or marriages after todays date will be legally recognised" she said.

As she turned back around, she looked to Ron's face and saw sadness there. He held in his hand a round ring that it appeared he had made from a vine growing on a nearby tree.

"Hermione, I know that we're young and I know what the law says, but I love you. I have loved you since forever. If I don't do this and they don't match us, I will regret it forever. Please, Hermione Granger, will you do the honour of agreeing to marry me?" he asked her, having bent down on one knee.

"Ron, of course I would, I just… If we aren't matched, this is all for nothing" she said sadly, taking the ring from him and placing it on the ring finger on her left hand.

"At least we know how we feel about each other. I know I haven't been the best boyfriend to be around and we haven't, you know, since Australia and I was probably really bad at it, but I want to make it up to you" he said encasing her in his arms.

"None of that matters, not really" she said into his chest as he held her against himself.

"I want to take you out. Tonight. For dinner. A real date" he said, pulling away.

"I really think that would be nice" she said, smiling for what might be the first time in a long time.

~~0vO~~

Hermione left Ginny's room that night in an incredibly revealing dress that hugged her nicely in all the right places. It was one of Ginny's that she had stolen from Lavender last year at school, but Hermione didn't know that.

She met Ron at the bottom of the stairs, and the two of them were greeted with 'whoops' and whistles from the Weasleys who had gathered to discuss the issue at hand. As it turned out, Molly had marched right up to Kingsley's door and demanded answers, along with about one hundred other enraged parents. There was nothing he could do. It was out of his hands and in the hands of the Wizengamot.

The law included everyone who was of age, up until the age of 25. This meant that a person who was 17 could very well be matched with someone who was 25. Percy and George were not surprised to read their letters, as Percy had been at work in the ministry when the law was announced, and George couldn't find it within him to care about much at all anyway.

"At least I won't be alone" was all George said.

Hermione and Ron left the Burrow through the Floo and found themselves dusting their clothes off at the Leaky Cauldron. They greeted the intrigued guests of the pub quickly before heading out the muggle exit into the street outside.

"There is a place nearby that is good. Or so I heard" Ron said, patting the pocket of his muggle jacket to make sure he had his muggle money.

"We could have gone somewhere else" she said. "Maybe somewhere you'd be more comfortable?" she asked.

"Hermione, we're two of the three most famous people in the wizarding world and we're a couple who are staring down the barrel of a marriage law which may or may not break us up. I think a muggle outing is better" Ron said.

"You're right. Less hassle this way" she said, smiling at Ron's thoughtfulness.

They entered a restaurant after walking for about five minutes

"Mexican?" she asked.

"Yeah, I thought it would be nice. I haven't had Mexican before" Ron said.

"I'm excited to try it. Its been a long time" she said, approaching the counter.

"Do you have a booking?" asked the waitress.

"I do. Weasley, table for two?" he said.

"Right this way please" she said, walking the through the cosy restaurant to a small courtyard out the back.

"I'll bring you some water. Would you like something else to drink?" she asked.

"I'd like to see the cocktail menu, please" Hermione said, shrugging off her jacket in the late summer air.

"Me too" said Ron, placing his own jacket on the back of his chair.

"This is lovely Ron" Hermione said, taking in the atmosphere.

"I used the teletone at the post office in Ottery St Catchpole" Ron said, looking pleased with himself.

"The telephone? That's marvellous. This is lovely" she said.

The waitress returned with the cocktail menus and Hermione ordered a fruit tingle and Ron, not knowing what anything was, ordered the same.

They quickly ordered their meals and continued with their conversation.

Their meals arrived and they eagerly enjoyed their Mexican feast. It would become one of their favourites which they promised to return to soon. The conversation was never stunted and flowed naturally. They tried to avoid the topic of the marriage law at all costs to ensure their night remained positive. Hermione wouldn't admit it, but she was terrified of being paired with someone else.

When they finished, Ron paid, and they left with full stomachs.

"I don't think I could eat another thing" Hermione said, rubbing her stomach.

"That's a shame because there is an ice cream place just around the corner" he said.

"How… How did you know all this?" she asked.

"I do my research" he said with a smile.

"Which brother?" she asked.

"Charlie" he answered, looking at his shoes. Hermione stopped walking, bringing him to a halt with her as they were holding hands.

"Well, I must be sure to thank him" she said, standing on her toes to kiss him. It was supposed to be a chaste peck on the lips, however, somehow it managed to turn into something more.

The night, the restaurant, Ron's thoughtfulness… Hermione was so enthralled by the night, she found herself wanting something more.

"Ron… Can we go somewhere?" she asked.

"I thought we were. Do you want to get ice cream?" he asked.

"I was thinking maybe we go to my parents house?" she asked.

"Oh…" he said, feeling nervous.

"I can apparate us straight in, I had Kinglsey alter the wards when we went to check on it, remember?" she said.

"If that's what you want?" he asked.

"Ron, there is nothing I want more right now" she said.

~~OvO~~

Hermione woke the next morning in the bed which she had enlarged using her magic the night before, at her bed at her parents' house. She was wrapped in Ron's arms with a sheet covering their naked bodies.

Her fingers moved to her swollen lips as she recalled the night before. It had been purely magical, from beginning to end.

While it hadn't been intense and full of passion like she had often read about in her romance novels, it was sweet love making filled with kissing and unending utterings of love and affection.

She carefully extracted herself from Ron's arms and found a t shirt and shorts in her cupboard before making her way to the kitchen. There wasn't much in the way of food, so she transfigured her clothes to something more acceptable before apparating to the alley beside a nearby café.

15 minutes later, Hermione returned to her childhood home to find a confused and scared looking Ron wandering the living room with his wand gripped in his hand.

"I thought something bad happened' he said, pulling her to him in an embrace.

"I just went to get breakfast. I thought you'd be hungry" she said as she stood on toes to kiss him.

"You're perfect" he said.

She handed him a coffee cup before taking out some bacon and egg rolls and hash browns from a bag and placing them on the table in the dining room.

"This is great. Where'd you get it?" he asked.

"Just a café in London" she said.

"Well I love it" he said, as he picked up his roll to take a bite. "By the way Hermione, happy birthday" he said.

~~OvO~~

Hermione's 19th birthday was a raging success. After breakfast Ron had taken her to her bedroom and repeated the events that occurred in her bed the night before, before they had a shower and returned to the Burrow.

Molly had put on a beautiful lunch after thoroughly admonishing the couple for staying out all night. The afternoon was spent by the lake with Ron Ginny and Harry while the night consisted of a roast and stories shared around a bonfire with all the Weasleys.

"I'm sorry your parents couldn't be here" Ron said as they toasted marshmallows by the fire.

"I think… My family are the people who are here, now" she said, resting her head on Ron's shoulder.

"You're right, we're your family. We always have been" Molly said as she looked on from her place beside her husband. The atmosphere, while enjoyable, was dampened by the knowledge that in the morning, their worlds would change forever.

"I'm not ready to be a mother" Hermione said into the fire.

"Me neither" Ginny greed.

"I wanted to travel, to work, build a career" Hermione said, tears in her eyes.

"Come now you pair. I had Bill when I was 20 and I wouldn't change a thing" Molly said.

"Yeah mum, but times have changed" Ginny said. "Women want to be just as successful as men can be and tying them to a house at the age of 17 can be disastrous" she added.

"Who's to say we can't travel with rugrats?" Ron asked.

"It would just be much harder" Hermione said.

"I can be a stay at home dad" Harry said with a wicked grin.

"Sure thing, I'll pop out the babies and you can look after them. Sounds like a plan to me" Ginny said, leaning towards Harry and kissing him on the lips.

"It's all well and good for you four, you're the golden trio, plus one, there's no way you won't get matched with each other. What about George and me? Who are we going to end up with?" Percy asked.

"Whoever it is, I'm certain she'll be amazing" Hermione said.

"Well, your father and I are off to bed. Don't forget all of you, I want you at the table at 7am sharp to open your letters together" Molly said, as she left the fire side with her husband and made their way into the house.

"I hope we can be that happy when we're done with all of this and our children are grown" Ginny said to Harry.

"I can only promise that I'll do my best" Harry said.

"And that's all I can ask" Ginny said, reaching up to pull Harry in for a long snogging session.

"That's just about as much of that as I can tolerate. Happy birthday Hermione" George said before getting up and walking into the house.

"You staying the night?" Ron asked as Hermione said, "Thank you".

"Might as well" George shrugged, entering through the back door.

Hermione went to bed shortly after, having had a big night the previous night and wanting to have a clear mind for the following day.

~~OvO~~

The group of teenagers woke on the morning of the 20th of September, not quite ready to discover who the ministry had chosen as their spouse.

This date would mark the beginning of 18 months where they must all marry and fall pregnant.

Ginny sat at the table in her dressing gown beside an anxious looking Harry when Hermione arrived at breakfast. Soon after the entire Weasley family was present. No one felt much like eating, but Molly insisted on making pancakes for them all.

Hermione and Ron sat beside Harry and Ginny and Percy and George sat on the other side of the table. Molly took a seat beside Percy and Arthur couldn't bring himself to sit.

"Whatever happens…" Harry said, as they noticed a large owl flying towards the burrow.

"We'll be ok" Ginny said. "We have to be ok" she added as the owl flew in through the window and delivered the letters to the table.

Arthur took them and handed them to each person. Once they all had their enveloped in hand, there was silence across the table.

"All together then?" Ron asked.

"Together" Harry said.

The sound of parchment being ripped open was all that could be heard inside the Burrow. Molly looked on as her children removed the piece of parchment from the envelopes and glanced down the page.

Harry and Ginny both smiled in relief as the found each other's names on their letters.

Percy sighed as he saw the name of his ex-girlfriend Penelope Clearwater on his parchment.

Before anyone could do anything, Ron slammed his down on the table, having opened his first and glanced over at Hermione's, then stormed out the door.

As Hermione saw the name listed in front of her, she looked up from her place at the table and across from where she was sitting and make eye contact with her future husband, George Weasley.

Harry, concerned, picked up Ron's letter and saw a name he hadn't expected – Lavender Brown.

"I thought she was dead?" Ginny asked.

"She almost was" Harry said, distracted. "Hermione, who did you get?" he asked.

Without saying a word, she handed Harry the paper, tears trickling down her face.

The whole room was silent as they all looked amongst each other.

"That's just fucking rude" Ginny said, seeing that her best friend was matched with the wrong brother.

"Ginny" Molly admonished.

Hermione sat in stunned silence, staring at the knots in the table in front of her, only vaguely aware that her fiancé, now ex fiancé, she supposed, had stormed out and she was set to marry his brother.

She got up without a word and left the house to find Ron.

She didn't have to walk far, as she knew he often retreated to the same place when he was angry or upset.

"Ron" she began, but words evaded her. She was speechless. There was nothing she could say or do in this moment to make things feel ok, so she sat beside him and held him as they both cried in each other's arms.

After what could have been maybe an hour or perhaps 5 minutes, Harry came and found the couple.

"Its wrong. It isn't right. They made a mistake" he said, standing in front of them.

"What can we do? The information packet told us that they would be taking no questions regarding this" Hermione said.

"Are we, or are we not the golden trio?" Harry asked.

Hermione simply rolled her eyes.

"Isn't it about time we asked for something? Demanded answers, required some favouritism?" he asked, becoming angry now. "You two belong together, if they can't see that… if the stupid bloody hat can't see that then the whole process is wrong" Harry said, turning to head for the gate of the Burrow.

"I don't see it doing much good" Hermione said.

"At least we can try. I can't see my life without you Hermione. Lavender? I mean, I don't even know where to begin. She's still in St Mungos as far as I was aware" Ron said.

Hermione didn't speak, instead, focusing on an ant which appeared to be carrying a crumb that was far too big for it to be considered an acceptable task. Something deep down inside of her told her that there would be no changing it. There would be nothing that could be done to allow her to be with Ron.

"Well, look at it this way, regardless of what happens, I'll be a Weasley" she said, with tears falling from her eyes.

Ron simply looked at her, stood up and left the place where they had been sitting. Hermione knew Ron, she knew what he was like. This would be his breaking point. If they couldn't be together after everything they went through, after years of fighting their feelings and between Viktor Krum and Lavender and Cormack McLaggen, then were they ever truly meant to be? Could the hat really sort them? Afterall, it hadn't sat upon their heads since they were 11 years old, how would it know them now? Hermione had so many questions. So much to uncover. She simply, for the first time in her life, had no idea where to begin.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN - Thanks for your review, Sakura Lisel. I think it mentioned in chapter 1 that to refuse would result in a person being stripped of their magic, obliviated and forced out into the muggle world. I might not have made that very clear, but that is the case. **

**Please enjoy chapter 2. **

**PS: Please be warned that this chapter eludes to some rude things.**

* * *

Harry arrived back at the Burrow, furious. He had managed to get a moment with Kingsley but all he was told was that the Sorting hat was a magical device which had knowledge of the past, the present and the future. There would be no swapping, there would be no changing, there would be no special considerations. Hermione and Ron were over.

Harry and Ginny were grateful to have been matched together. So happy in fact that that very morning, Harry had travelled to a muggle jeweller and purchased a ring which he presented to Ginny before lunch. The ring was quite beautiful and Ginny was all in a daze upon now officially being engaged to her life long crush and love of her life.

Hermione, having sat alone reading in the living room of the burrow, was approached by George after Molly made them all sandwiches.

"Can I have a word?" George asked, sitting on the coffee table in front of her.

"Sure" she answered, as she marked her page in the book and sat it down beside her.

"I know what this all means for you and for Ron and I'm sorry" he said.

"You've got nothing to be sorry about. You didn't ask for this" Hermione said.

"Well, you have to wonder, if I wasn't around, would they have matched you with Ron after all?" he asked.

"I haven't actually wondered that George. You can't be responsible for this, purely because you exist" she said.

"I'm not going to make a decent husband, Hermione" he said. "I'm ruined. I'm not even whole anymore" he said, staring off into some far away place.

"You're grieving George. You lost a significant part of who you are, but you're not ruined" she said, reaching out to place her hand on his.

"Thanks for saying that Hermione, but when have you ever known George Weasley to do anything? When has anyone ever spoken about George Weasley? Its always been Fr… F…. Well, its never just been me, has it?" he said, not even able to say the name of his twin.

Hermione did something that she felt was completely reasonable, she leant forward and pulled him into a hug.

"You will come out the other side of the George. You'll be different, but you'll be someone" she said with her chin on his shoulder.

They stayed like that for seconds until a voice broke it up.

"Not wasting any time, I see?" Ron said, his face red with anger.

"Ron, we were just talking" Hermione said, pulling away from George and standing up.

"No, by all means… you two are engaged now. Best make a start early" he said.

"Ron, you git… I was here to apologise. No one wanted this. No one wants to be matched with the surviving half of the Weasley twins" George said.

"Well, you got her. Make the most of it" Ron said before storming off.

"He never just walks somewhere, does he?" George asked.

~~OvO~~

Dinner that night was an awkward affair. Harry and Ginny were over the moon about their engagement and Ginny couldn't stop oogling her engagement ring. There was talk of a garden wedding as soon as they could pull one together.

Hermione had hesitated at the edge of the dining room before taking a seat, not knowing where to sit. She had sat beside Ron all summer and now that it was over and she was technically engaged to George, she had no idea where to sit.

"For heavens sake Hermione, just sit" Molly said when she saw the girl's hesitation. Hermione sat beside Ginny at the end of the table.

"So, the ministry has declared that there will be an engagement ball for everyone to officially meet their partner and for the ministry to determine who has run off and who is in agreeance with this, ridiculous law" Molly said, heaping potatoes onto her husband's plate.

"I'm not going" Ron said angrily.

"The hell you aren't. If I have to go you are coming" Harry said.

"I'd rather be stripped of my magic and obliviated" Ron said.

"You don't mean that" Arthur said.

"Dad, I _dated_ Lavender. She's not easy to get on with. Me and Hermione had something, now I have to sit by and watch her marry my brother? I won't" he said.

Hermione remained silent while the Weasleys debated the pros and cons of whether or not it would be better to be obliviated and stripped of all magic or marry someone you didn't choose. Hermione didn't want either, but she knew she belonged in this world. She would never willingly give up her magic. It was the one thing that made her who she was.

Once she was finished with her meal, Hermione stood and placed her plate in the sink to be washed with magic. She turned to the Weasleys and cleared her throat.

"Thank you for your hospitality Molly, but I think it's time I went home" she said sadly.

"Don't be daft my dear, this your home as much as any place" Molly said

"Thank you, but I think it's for the best. My parents, they signed it over to me anyway and I really should stay there. I will see you all on Friday at the Ball. George, I'll owl you with the colour of my dress so you can match your tie" she said, without looking any of them in the eye, before heading up the stairs to Ginny's small bedroom on the third floor.

She packed her things as quickly as she could, which didn't take long, as it was all neatly organised in her trunk anyway. She shrunk it down and put into her beaded bag and left the room. The Weasleys were all still at the table when she returned a few minutes later.

"I'll leave the wards in place, I think its better that way" she said. "You can owl me" she told Harry as she made her way to the doors.

"Hermione, please don't go" Ginny said.

"And stay for what Ginny? To be looked at as though I'm the reason for Ron's broken heart? To be the one to try and put George's back together? To be the centre of something that I never asked for? I'll be in touch about Friday" she said, pulling the back door open and stepping out into the night.

She half expected someone to follow her. She half wanted them to. She didn't want to be alone, but she couldn't stand being around these people for a minute longer. When she reached the gate of the burrow, she took one look back at the house that teetered on odd angles and turned on the spot, thinking of the living room of her childhood home.

~~OvO~~

For the next 5 days, Hermione ignored all owls and didn't get out of bed for more than a cup of tea and something small to eat. She cried all the time and begged the universe to take her away. It was the closest that she had ever come to considering ending her own life or wishing for it, but she couldn't possibly consider it. After the lengths she had gone to over the last few years to keep her life going, to take it all away and have it be for nothing would be completely insane. But wasn't she insane? She had no idea.

The dreams became worse, the further into depression Hermione sank. She no longer simply relived the horrors of Malfoy Manor at the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange, but they began to morph into other things. She would dream that Bellatrix was in her house, standing over her bed. She would wake up screaming and sweating and hope to Godric that it wasn't real. She'd grip her wand tight and cast protego spells all around herself in fear that there might be a chance that it was real. It took hours for her to fall back to sleep after one of those dreams.

By Friday morning, she knew she needed to get up and find a dress for the ball that was to occur that night. She had no choice but to attend or else be stripped of her magic.

She got out of bed, dressed in jeans and a shirt and made her way to London to search for a suitable dress. She didn't spend long in the shops. Opting for the first dress she tried on that fit her. It was a simple but elegant black slip dress and fit her well, despite the fact that she had appeared to have lost weight over the last few days of not eating properly.

Hmm, she thought, Molly would be upset after feeding her so thoroughly due to losing so much weight during the war. She had finally gotten back up to a healthy size and now her hip bones jutted out again.

She stopped by a salon and got her hair, nails and make-up done, something she wished she had taken the time to learn from the girls in Gryffindor tower when she was busy on homework and horcruxes. No doubt Lavender will look stunning with a simple wave of her wand.

Was that jealousy? Probably. She shook off the thought. Ron was no longer Hermione's. No longer hers to claim. There was no chance of a relationship with him. It made Hermione's eyes well with tears while she got her nails done by women who barely spoke English. She preferred it that way. No small talk.

She thought about going to Diagon Alley earlier that morning, but figured there would probably be reporters there and she didn't want to make the cover of the daily prophet seeking out assistance for hair and make up charms. There were many benefits to the muggle way of life, she realised. Perhaps it might be worth it to give it all up? She thought about the things she enjoyed about being a witch and quickly dismissed the idea as absurd.

At 5:30pm, she looked in the mirror in her parents' room at the woman standing before her. She didn't look much like herself, which she found odd. Her hair was tame and cascaded down her shoulders and back in soft waves. The front was gently pinned back, which showed off her perfectly made up face.

"This isn't me… well… I suppose I am no longer me, am I?" she asked herself in the mirror. There were many things about Hermione Granger that were no longer Hermione. She scoffed at herself, realising now she was talking to herself and reasoning with herself. Crazy. Absolutely sodding crazy.

She collected the matching bag which she had placed the undetectable extension charm on and headed for the ministry via the floo. Her wand was tucked into a pocket that she had charmed into the side seam of her dress. All shed have to do would be to reach to her side, underneath her arm and retrieve it from the small pouch that was discreetly hidden inside the dress.

When she exited the floo at the ministry, they were collecting wands.

"All that effort charming a wand pocket into this dress for nothing?" she asked the ministry official.

"Apologies, Miss Granger. They're afraid of the backlash" the woman said.

"So they should be. This is ridiculous" Hermione exclaimed, before checking in her wand and turning to head towards the ballroom.

She hesitated outside the grand doors, which she could hear commotion behind. Music and talking. A bit of laughter. Wow, people must not be taking it as badly as she thought.

She collected a drink from the cart that was positioned outside the door, a lovely and quite necessary tough, before pushing open the door to enter the room.

It was quite elegantly set up. There were chandeliers hung from the ceiling and tables with white tablecloths and long stemmed champagne glasses. If she didn't know any better, she would swear the ministry was going to marry them tonight.

"Hermione!" came the voice of her best friend. Ginny rushed over with Harry tailing behind her.

"Good Godric woman, where on earth did you find that dress?" Ginny asked.

"Oh just something I picked up at a muggle store this morning" Hermione shrugged as she sipped her drink. It was pink and bubbly, and it tasted good going down so Hermione finished it off and too another from an elf walking around with 20 or so on a tray. "Elves? Forced marriages? What next? Women can't vote?" Hermione asked.

"We've been worried about you" Harry said, looking Hermione in the eyes.

"I've been fine. Just catching up on revision before going back to school" she lied.

"We're have seats at a table down the front. The three of us and our matches and some ministry officials" Harry said, gesturing to a table at the front of the room where she could vaguely make out Ron's read hair.

"I think I might find some people to say hello to first" she said.

"I know what you're doing. You can't avoid him forever" Ginny said.

"Which him?" Hermione asked.

"Well, both of them really" Ginny replied.

"I just… It is hard for me Gin. You got your perfect match. You're fine. You'll both get married and live happily ever after. I have to marry someone I don't love in that way, have children with him and sit across the dinner table at Christmases from the person I _do_ love but can't have, while he has children with someone else" Hermione said. There. She finally did it. Said what was on her mind. Was she jealous of Ginny and Harry? Probably. It simply wasn't fair.

She turned and walked away, hoping to find someone she knew. There were actually loads of faces she recognised, but none she felt compelled to talk to.

As she made her way to the table, she bumped into a woman who she only saw from behind. As the woman turned around, Hermione almost fell over when she recognised her.

"Hermione, you look lovely" came the husky voice of Lavender Brown.

"Thank you… Lavender… You, uh… You changed your hair" was all Hermione could say to the woman who, last time she saw her, was being mauled by a ware wolf. In fact, you wouldn't really know that she was technically declared dead only a few months ago, as her scars were mostly faded. What was left was her natural beauty and her sweet smile.

"Oh indeed, I did. Its rather short now, but I think I like it. It sits better just above my shoulders. Plus… I spent so long in St Mungos, it was easier to manage this way" Lavender said.

"I think it suits you" Hermione said.

"Look Hermione… I know you and Ron had something going on and the last thing I wanted to do was get in the way of that. Merlin, I was still in hospital when I got my letter, but I need you to know…" she began.

"Lavender, its no big deal. We didn't ask for this. None of us did. Its best we don't even give it another thought" Hermione said offering a smile she dragged up from the depths of her psyche before walking away to find her place at the table near the front.

She arrived at her table to see Ron and George sitting side by side, her own name tag beside George with Ginny's place to her right.

"Wow, as if this isn't going to be awkward" she said, breaking the ice and placing her coat on the back of her chair.

"Wow, Hermione, you look…" Ron said.

"Ravishing" George said.

"Wow. And the awkwardness begins" she said, finishing her drink.

"We're going to have to just make the most of this I think" Ron said, clearly more level-headed than he was several days ago.

"Make the most of it? You've got to be kidding me. I'm sorry George, you're great and I'm sure we'll get on just fine, but the ministry had no idea what it was doing when it matched anyone. Have you seen half the people here?" she said, looking around the room at some of the insane matches that were appearing. "I mean, Lavender looks incredible for a girl who was, for all intents and purposes, dead. But you've been there, done that. Who's to say it will last the second time?" Hermione said.

"Actually, I went to see her" Ron said, his ears turning red. "She seems different, sort of grown up I guess. We had a long chat" he said.

Hermione's heart just about shattered into a million pieces at that. She was sure the look on her face completely gave her away but she forced yet another fake smile on her face and plucked another pink drink from a nearby elf and held it up to the man who had asked her, not even a week ago, to marry him.

"Well then, to you and Lavender" Hermione said, as a worried looking Ron picked up his own glass and gently dinged hers with his.

"What's this about Lavender?" asked the very person they were taking about, as she took her seat beside Ron.

"I was just making a toast to you and Ron. I'm certain you two will be amazing together" Hermione said.

"Well, how about you Hermione, and George? Quite the shock but I can see why you were both matched" Lavender said.

"You can?" Hermione asked, never having been able to see it for herself.

"Absolutely. You're both fiercely loyal and brave beyond comprehension. You…" she began.

"You just described the characteristics of any Gryffindor. That could be any of us" Hermione said.

"I was coming to it" she said, narrowing her eyes at the other woman. "You have both suffered incredibly over the last 6 months. You're both so focused and dedicated to your future and I've never known anyone as smart as the two of you. You're both so closed off with others and both of you walk around with this hard exterior, I think only the two of you can break through. It takes someone who is similar to you to truly understand you… With Georges business and inventions and your smarts Hermione, I'm surprised that nobody else expected it, if I'm honest" Lavender said.

Hermione was lost for words. She hadn't considered that her and George may actually be a match. She was so focused on not having been matched with Ron and focused on having to face him for years to come knowing that they could have had it all.

"How did you get so…" Hermione began.

"Wise? Smart? Grown up? I died. I was mauled by a fucking werewolf and left for dead. Everyone thought I was dead and trust me, I wanted to be. But there was something in me, something telling me that we were going to win. So I fought. And I fought everyday since. I guess that kind of thing changes a person. Ron saved my life Hermione. He killed that… He killed that thing… and saved me. If I could give him you, I would, in a heartbeat. But we were matched for a reason and I for one want to see what that reason was. I owe him my life" she said, looking to Ron with admiration in her eyes as she finished talking.

Before Hermione had time to come up with something to say, a gong rang out all around the ballroom and Kingsley Shacklebolt called for everyone to take their seats. They were soon joined by Harry and Ginny as well as some people she hadn't met from the ministry.

"I thank you all for taking the time in your busy schedules to attend this event. I hope that it can be a night of celebration of things to come rather than a night fuelled by anger and frustration. I'd like to start out by saying that, not only did I, as minister, have no say in the implementation of this law, but there was not one single person that holds responsibility for this. There is in fact more at play here than a group of people making a decision to affect your young lives, and it is hoped that by the end of tonight, you will ore deeply understand why this was implemented in this way and why the matching process was as it is" Kinglsley went on.

Hermione tried desperately to hold on to his every word, but the more he spoke, the more she felt as though he was passing the blame onto everyone but himself and those of the Wizengamot.

"I would like to present you all with some information that I hope you will all find highly useful. Centuries ago, our world was threatened with a similar set of circumstances and similar laws were put into place then. However, the way in which those laws were implemented were barbaric. Girls as young as 13 were being pulled from school, stripped from their families and enslaved to families who could not conceive a child naturally. Women were treated like cattle, inseminated, raped or worse, and held in prisons in order to rebuild the population. This law, and the facets of this law remain a threat to our society today because if the population should decrease further, it will come into effect automatically, and the rights we have worked so hard for, as magical human beings, will no longer be available to anybody" Kinglsey paused, giving the people in the audience the opportunity to be outraged.

"Surely this law, which was written into existence can be just as easily unwritten?" Hermione asked.

"Good question Miss Granger. There is no easy explanation as to why the law can not be removed. It was created using ancient binding magic in order to protect the wizarding population. So far, we have been unsuccessful in revoking it" he said, drawing, yet again, gasps and chocked outrage from the crowd.

"Why the hat then?" came a voice from the back.

"Good question Mr Goyle. The hat is the only magical object which has knowledge of the past, understanding of the present, and information about the future. When it was placed on your heads at the age of eleven, it created a bond between itself and your mind, causing it to be the only thing in the world to truly understand the workings of your own mind, even if you don't understand it yourself. Trust in this and you will all be pleasantly surprised. I can assure you" he said.

"What were some of the elements upon which we were matched?" Hermione asked, desperate for information.

"Well, for one, there was general reproductive health which is, as you know, the main reason for this law, closely followed by hopes, dreams, personality testing, aptitude and intelligence, fears, experiences, weaknesses and potential for growth" he responded.

"And why did it not take into account, people who were already together?" Ron asked, jumping in where Hermione was about to.

"The hat determines those who have the capabilities to outlast the most difficult of relationship problems. What may have felt like the love of someone's life, may in fact have been seen by the sorting hat to have only been a whirlwind summer romance, not set to survive the traumas of life. Look, I'm not highly privy to a lot of the things that matched you with your person. I look around this room and I see many unexpected pairs, but I see some who i feel just make sense…" he looked at Hermione when he said this. "If you all give it some time, I can assure you, the foundations of friendship will be the strongest place from which to build a life long partnership" he said. "Now, let us eat" he finished, stretching his arms out wide, signalling the plates of food to appear.

"I wonder if there are House Elves below here like there are at Hogwarts? Ron asked, eyeing his plate with wonder.

Hermione remained quiet.

"Are you ok?" George asked her quietly.

"I am. I'm so sorry George, you absolutely don't deserve to put up with someone like me who lacks the capacity to even talk to you" she said.

"What do you mean? You've been completely engaging" he said with a wicked grin. Hermione noticed that for the first time, it touched his eyes.

"Did you have an idea about who you wanted to be matched with?" she asked him.

"I was hoping they'd forget me, to be honest. I haven't been great company lately in case you haven't noticed" he said, stabbing a potato on his plate.

"I noticed, George. You more than anyone deserved a great match" she said sadly.

"Why are you saying it like ours is horrific?" he asked.

"Because I'm not who you wanted. I was besotted with your younger brother until recently" she said.

"Until? So that means you're free game then?" he asked.

"You know what I mean George" she said.

"Well, how about we make a deal then?" he asked, taking two glasses of pink bubbles from a nearby elf and passing one to Hermione.

"Sure. What's the deal?" she asked.

"How about we start off as friends. Do whatever it is they want us to do. Get married if we have to. Hell, even make incredibly frizzy red haired babies, but whatever we do, we be honest with each other and remember, we're friends before anything" he said.

Hermione thought about this for a moment. Babies? That would mean having to have sex with George. He wasn't unattractive. In fact, if anything, he was better looking than Ron. But she wondered how she would manage to bring herself to do that with him. It felt like a very far off place which was a low maybe on her to do list.

She held her glass up and clinked it with Georges, "Ok, that's a deal" she said.

Hermione ate and drank and quickly found herself feeling more at ease. While the feeling of grief in regards to her relationship with Ron would take a very long time to dissipate, she couldn't help but feel like perhaps Kingsley was right. She was so different to Ron. They had a great friendship, with which they experimented with a romantic relationship and while they were in it, it felt right, however, Hermione knew there were some issues. Ron was never going to be on her level, intellectually. He was so hot headed and jealous of every little thing. He was quick to judge and she could never forget the way he so easily abandoned her and Harry during the war months. It took a lot for him to built that bridge and the structure of it was barely stable.

She watched Ron's interactions with Lavender throughout the night and smiled to herself, knowing that they were a perfect match. Gone was the crazy intense snogging sessions they had in 6th year, instead, replaced by conversations, getting to know each other and slight flirting. She felt the pang of jealousy, which she drowned out with more pink bubbles.

After the meal was finished, Kinglsey got up to make a final announcement.

"Ladies and gentlemen, witches and wizards. I would now like to make a few announcements. As you would all be aware, Hogwarts was delayed this year. It will reopen on the first of October and those of you who have requested to return as adults for 7th year, as well as those who are required to for legal purposes, can choose to take the Hogwarts Express or simply apparate to the gates and walk in at any time throughout the day, but no later than 5pm for roll call purposes. Anyone wishing to rescind their enrolment must do so via owl post no later than Monday. It must be addressed to Headmaster McGonagall. Alternatively, you can apparate to the gates of the school and request a face to face meeting to discuss your options. This much be done before the beginning of the term" he said.

"Weddings must all be held by the end of the year. No questions. This leaves you with two months to get things in order. May I suggest attending the group event that the ministry is offering to make it official and conclude with a reception at the place of your choosing with your friends and family? The details of the event will be advised in writing by the end of the month. If you are choosing to attend Hogwarts and your spouse isn't, you will be granted afternoon and weekend passes to visit and they will be granted entry into the grounds, pending approval from the headmaster. It is expected that you try your best to consummate your marriage and begin preparations to have a child within 18 months. If there are no signs of this at that point, you will be given a full health assessment ad face questions as to the nature of your marriage. However, the sorting hat understands that you were all matched based on genetic, health and reproductive compatibility. It not expected that there will be any issues" he continued. The subject of choice has come up quite a lot, with many of you advising that children were not an idea that you were willing to entertain till much later in life. I say to you this; You are the answer to the continuation of our community. You will be granted significant benefits once your children are born and child care options will be available for those of you who feel as though you would like to continue with your career. There will be no judgement. There will be ongoing support and care for those of you who participate in this law appropriately… Now please, if you will, a band has been procured for the remainder of the night and will remain till early hours of the morning for your entertainment. Please enjoy and take this as an opportunity to get to know your spouse" he finished, but before he left the stage, he waved his wand over the crowd and the ring finger of everyone's left hand was adorned with an engagement ring of varying sizes, styles and colours. "The ministry's gift to you. A sign that the hat does indeed know what truly lies in you hearts and minds" he said before leaving the stage.

Hermione looked down at her hand as she joined in the clapping. Her ring was stunning, absolutely beautiful. The hat appeared to know just what she wanted. She looked around to the other women in the crowd who were gushing at their left hands. Lavender was squealing with delight at her own personally crafted piece of jewellery.

As Hermione and the rest of her table stood, the large round tables were replaced with smaller, taller tables which sat 6 or so. Chairs were re positioned around the room sporadically, seemingly in pairs. The elves with the drinks came out in droves and the pink bubbly drinks were replaced with harder liquor such as firewhisky. Hermione took two drinks from a nearby elf and handed one to George, clinking glasses with him.

"To the future" she said.

"To adventures at Hogwarts" he replied.

"Are you going to use me to get access to the castle so you can get up to no good?" she asked, feeling certain that that was exactly what he was intending on doing.

"Hermione, my pranking days are over. I just want to visit occasionally, make sure my clients are happy and see my wife" he said, smiling in her direction.

"Speaking of which, Kinglsey mentioned a group wedding event. How do you feel about that?" she asked.

"Well, I'm not opposed to it. But of course, if you would prefer…" he began.

"No, I think we should do it" she said, cutting him off.

"Ron…" George called to his younger brother, who raised his chin in answer. "You having a wedding or you doing the ministry thing?" George asked.

Ron looked to Lavender and spoke quiet words which Hermione could not hear.

"Ministry. Then have a do at the Burrow" Ron said.

"Sounds like a plan to me" George said.

"So there will be the 8 of us. You and me, Ron, Lavender, Ginny and Harry and Percy and Penelope" Hermione said.

"Sounds like absolutely nothing can go wrong" George said with a wink. Hermione sensed some of George's old self was leaking out of him just a tad. She liked it. She enjoyed seeing him happy. It made her happy.

What she didn't expect to make her happy, was when, several drinks later, George asked her to dance, whisking her away to the dancefloor and helping, for just a moment, to make her forget about all the horrible things that had weaselled their way back into her life.

The night wore on in a blue of firewhisky and bubbly pink drinks in long stemmed glasses. Hermione felt free for the first time in forever and as she danced and looked over to the man who danced alongside her, her heart mended just a little and inside it she felt the beginnings of something new. Hope, perhaps.

* * *

**AN: I am quite aware that Hermione experiences huge turnaround in her emotions in this chapter. Its not a mistake, its not overlooking anything. Its on purpose. Yep. In one night, someone can go from severely depressed to having happy feelings of hope. Also remember, Hermione is now drunk. Please let me know if you think its too crazy and i'll drag it out a little. I ****didn't**** want this fic to be too long so i'm giving these teenagers teenage hormones and no sense of self control and limited inhibitions, which is what the ministry is counting on. **


	3. Chapter 3

_AN - Hey! reviews! Thank you guys so much - smithback, muzzarae, emyschoice... I appreciate the feedback so much. I saw it on my app earlier today and i have been hanging out to get home and upload this next chapter. Emyschoice, I do think that George can come to an ok place, but definitely, he wont be and needs to be depicted as a broken person for a long time. Thanks for your comment on him, as he can be a tough one to write. I have a hard time writing Ron as s good guy. Even in this chapter towards the end my brain was saying "Make him bad, make him bad" but i'm trying my hardest to keep him nice. Although, you'll see why any girl would just go "UHHHH" at him and not in a good way._

**Please be aware... THERE ARE LOADS OF SEX SCENES IN THIS CHAPTER. She gets loads of sex. All the sex. Sex sex sex! If you don't like it, probably give up now because they're adults, this is rated M and sex is part of human connection. Also is a really fun activity between two consenting adults.**

* * *

A few hours later, Hermione found herself arm in arm with George, leaving the ministry via the floo network. Somehow, the two of them landed at her place rather than his, however, she didn't mind. She was drunk and felt completely carefree. George was somewhat in control of his actions and stood awkwardly in her living room.

Hermione made them both a drink in the kitchen which she was thankful to have stocked on her shopping trip earlier that day.

"I had a great time" George said, cheersing to Hermione for what felt like the hundredth time that night.

Hermione drank her drink quickly and with what was a crazy moment of courage, threw herself into Georges arms and kissed him on the lips.

He tried to push her away, and initially she let him.

"Hermione, you're drunk You don't want to do this" he said.

"George, I'm not that drunk, and I think now is as good a time as any to do this" she said, looking into his eyes. Hs eyes, which were blue like the brightest parts of the ocean.

"I just… I don't want to rush into something that we'll regret later" he said, tucking a stray piece of her hair behind her ear.

"The only choice we have in this is the when and the where. Why not do it now. We've had a fantastic night, we've been dancing, drinking and having fun. I like you George. And I think you're quite attractive" she said in a moment of bold courage.

"Is this the Gryffindor bravery I see in you?" he asked.

"Why yes, I think it may well be. Now, where's yours?" She asked.

He seemed to contemplate this for a moment before leaning forward to kiss her again. This time, however, the kiss was most definitely not one sided. George kissed Hermione with intense passion that she had most definitely not expected. George's tongue soon found its way towards Hermione's, fighting for dominance, fighting for something she wasn't aware she had to give. She fought back, kissing him with equal passion that had never reared its face before. Certainly, she had been with Ron a couple of times, but he was never this passionate. Never this eager. George seemed hesitant only moments ago, but now, he was almost desperate. His hands found the split that travelled up the length of Hermione's leg and he felt the bare flesh of her toned legs. She moved her own hands to the buttons of his shirt and made quick work of divesting him of it. As she ran her hands up the light fuzz of George's chest hair, his hands had a firm grip on her ass. He lifted her and sat her on the nearby benchtop, parting her legs so that he stood in between them. Their kissing never ceased as their hands worked their way over the body of one another. Hermione found George's belt buckle and undid it with ease, causing his pants to fall in a heap on the floor. He was now left in his boxers and she was fully clothed. As she reached down to remove her dress, he grabbed her hands, placing them to her sides before taking the dress himself and lifting it over her head. She hadn't worn a bra and was now bare chested in her kitchen in her underwear, which, quite honestly, left nothing to the imagination.

George continued kissing Hermione with desperation and pressed himself hard against her. She could feel his arousal against her thigh, and she was desperate for it. After the week she had had, she so badly needed to feel _something_. She pressed the heels of her feet against his backside and was rewarded when he pressed hard against her centre. She moved her body so she could grind against him and moaned when she felt his erection press against her sensitive spot.

That was all it took apparently, for George to release himself from his boxers and move her underwear to the side.

"You sure you want to do this?" he asked, trailing a finger through her wet arousal.

"Absolutely. I need this so badly" she answered, looking him in the eyes, as he agonisingly slowly inserted one finger inside of her. She moaned in ecstasy, feeling a sense of relief, but also a desire, a longing for more.

Seconds later, or minutes, she wasn't sure, he withdrew his finger and aligned himself against her. He entered her slowly and tentatively, not knowing how experienced she was at this, which she appreciated. As it turned out, George was a lot bigger than Ron and the immediate sensation caught Hermione by surprise

"Are you ok?" he asked, sensing her hesitation.

"I'm good, just… go slow… for a bit" she said.

"You're not…?" the question of her virginity caught in his mouth, buried among what Hermione sensed was his fear at taking her virginity in this way.

"No, just… you're different. Bigger" she said shyly.

He pressed further inside of her and the exquisite feeling of fullness was quite enough to almost block out the slight burning that came with the stretching sensation. When he was completely buried inside of her, he stilled, kissing her once more. The kisses however, stopped being so passionate and were softer, more gentle. Hermione almost forgot where she was and what she was doing. She was completely lost in the feeling of George's tenderness. When she felt ready, she moved her hips and felt complete and utter bliss at the feeling of him moving against her.

"Merlin" she said.

"Is this ok?" he asked.

"More than ok" she answered.

He kissed her, not wanting to move much, however, Hermione was now desperate for some friction.

"Move, please, George… I need… I want…" she tried to speak but couldn't formulate words.

George did as he was asked and began moving, with his hands on her hips to hold her steady. She raked her fingers across his back, digging her nails in as he claimed her, thrust after thrust. The pain was a mere memory replaced with the bliss of George fucking her on the kitchen counter. She laid back and brushed the few scattered benchtop items onto the floor, scooting back and gesturing for George to join her up on the bench. The withdrawal of him made her whimper, however, he climbed up and held her still then rammed himself into her, causing her to cry out. His grin was worth all of the pain of the last week. He was pure joy. She could get used to this. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he continued making love to her. She found herself building, the twisting, throbbing tingling sensation that began in her abdomen and spiralled out around her body made her squeeze her eyes shut and as she came undone around him, she saw stars circling them, enveloping them and bringing them together with his own undoing.

~~OvO~~

Hermione woke the following day as the light streamed in through her window and immediately felt her head begin to pound. She rolled over and looked to the man who was sleeping soundly beside her. It felt odd to have George in her bed, especially after, only a week ago, it was Ron she awoke beside.

She carefully extracted herself from the bed and wrapped herself in her light dressing gown before making her way down to the kitchen to begin to formulate some kind of breakfast.

She paused when she saw their clothing strewn about the kitchen and the items from the bench top scattered on the floor. She felt the tingle between her thighs when she recalled their adventures the night before and found herself wondering if it had been a huge mistake.

She boiled the kettle and set about making scrambled eggs on toast as she really thought about what had transpired.

She had slept with George. Not only slept with him, but really truly _slept_ with him. They had had an incredibly fun night together and recalled, for the first time in a long time, actually laughing effortlessly with him.

Was that why they were matched? Was he able to bring out a side to her that she had always wanted? She remembered always rousing on Fred and George in school during her reign as prefect for their inventions, tricks and pranks, however, as she became older, those things felt more necessary. The world was so serious a place, what with the war and the battle. Suddenly, pranks and laughter felt like the most necessary thing in the world.

She pushed the eggs around in the pan with a wooden spoon as she recalled brazenly throwing herself at him last night. Surely he must have known what he was there for when they arrived at her parent's house in the floo. Why else would he have accompanied her? They had flirted on and off all night, something that Hermione had not intended, however, upon seeing Ron flirt with Lavender, it felt less odd.

She poured two cups of tea and placed them on a tray, removing the toast from the toaster, swiping margarine over it and setting it down on a plate before plating up two helpings of eggs. _Hopefully he likes eggs_, she thought to herself, trying to recall seeing what he had eaten during breakfasts at the Burrow.

As she was about to take them up to her room, he came down the stairs with a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Your uh… pants…" she looked at the clothes she had moved to a pile at the doorway. "I made breakfast" she said, unsure about how to navigate this strange situation.

George smiled a genuine smile at her as he pulled his boxer shorts on under the towel, revealing a little of himself between pulling them completely up and dropping the towel. Hermione looked away in… was it embarrassment? He was absolutely nailing her with that last night and she was loving it. Why was she so shy now?

"Breakfast looks good" he said, waking to where she stood and kissing her on the temple.

It made her feel tingly inside, so she guessed that was a good thing.

They sat at the dining table together and ate in awkward silence.

"How's your head this morning?" he asked.

"Sore" she said.

"I have some hangover potions at the flat if you like" he said.

"That would be nice" she said, knowing that she didn't have any muggle paracetamol on hand, and it wouldn't immediately cure her anyway. She also knew that George would find the muggle medication repulsive.

"Did you want to… uh, do something today?" she asked him.

"I would. Ordinarily… I have to open the shop today; I have a shipment coming in from France" he said.

"Oh, right. Of course" she said.

"Not that I wouldn't want to. It would be nice if we could organise to do something" he said.

"Definitely will get onto that" she said, wondering internally why on Godric's green earth this felt so awkward.

Hermione rushed through her breakfast and got up to take her plate to the sink. She filled the sink with hot water and was about to wash her plate when George came up behind her.

"Here" he said, swishing his wand over the washing up, causing it to begin washing itself. "Are you or are you not a witch?" he asked.

"I suppose I could have paid more attention to your mum for all these years" she said, offering him a smile of thanks.

"Breakfast was great" he said, leaning his back against the same counter they had crazy drunken sex on just hours before.

"Thanks. I'll add scrambled eggs to the list of things you enjoy for breakfast" she said.

"There aren't many foods that I dislike. I'll eat just about anything, although, not in the quantities that my youngest brother does" he said.

Hermione cringed at the reference to Ron and wondered if it would be a long-term reaction to her first love.

"I might go get changed. Probably take a shower" she said, eyeing the stairs.

"Ok, I'll wait right here" he said.

"Won't be long" she said, heading up the stairs and into the bathroom. She closed the door behind herself and headbutted the wall with her forehead. 'Why am I so awkward?' she wondered.

She stripped and showered quickly, washing her hair and using a charm for her teeth.

She wrapped a towel around herself and opened the door to the bathroom and was shocked to find George standing outside in the hallway.

"I hate how awkward this is" he said, taking hold of a wet curl of her hair.

"Merlin, me too, it's strange, isn't it?" she asked.

"Well, I think, that's why we need to do it again. Sober" he said, running a hand across her wet shoulder and down her arm where he took her hand in his.

Hermione felt tingles all over and, with an initial hesitation, she allowed him to lead her to her room.

She noticed he was still wearing his boxers and wondered if he was just that confident, she would say yes.

"What say you?" he asked.

"For research's sake. I think maybe we should explore all options to rid ourselves of the awkwardness" she said, grasping her towel in the middle and removing it from herself.

George eyed Hermione with what she could only determine was lust in his eyes.

"Why do you look at me that way?" she asked.

"You're stunning" he said, capturing her face in his hand.

"Shove off, I am skin and bones right now" she said.

"Well, that's nothing a few good meals won't fix" he said, leaning in and kissing her lips.

"Merlin, you're so good at that" she said.

"What else am I good at?" he asked, pushing her towards the bed so she could lay down upon it.

"Well, I suppose last night was pretty good" she said.

"Which part?" he asked, now laying over her resting on his elbows.

"The part in the kitchen" she answered shyly as he kissed her neck.

"Specifics?" he asked.

"No specifics. The whole… event was pretty great" she said, blushing, as he moved down her body to capture a perky nipple in his mouth.

"I have more things that I'm good at… If you want me to show them to you?" he asked.

"I… think that would be acceptable. For research sake, of course" she said, as he trailed kissed down towards her belly button.

She thought she knew what his aim was. She had read about it in her books and had heard the girls discussing it in the dormitory in years gone by. However, Hermione hadn't ever anticipated the rush of pleasure she would feel when George licked one long stroke from her entrance up her slit to the most sensitive place on her body.

Her body convulsed and she let out a moan of pleasure.

"You're incredibly good at that" she whimpered.

"I haven't even started" he said, inserting a finger into her wet core, eliciting yet again, a moan of pleasure.

Without withdrawing his long finger, he placed his tongue on her clitoris and licked, sucked, teased and ever so lightly nibbled on the sensitive bundle. All the while, his finger inside of her, curled to hit the spot she was completely unaware existed inside of her.

She could barely control herself, crying out in pleasure as he continued his sweet sweet assault, eager for her to come undone.

She arched her back when he inserted a second finger and pressed his tongue harder against her clit. With a moan that she was certain the neighbours would have heard, Hermione came undone under her future husband.

Not one to wait, George quickly freed himself from his boxers, crawled his way back up towards Hermione and thrust into her in one quick hard motion. Still reeling from the waves of her orgasm, she let out another cry of pleasure at the intrusion. He slightly withdrew and slammed into her again. It was heavenly. Her legs were trembling around his waist and his hands were in her hair as he continued the hi rhythm. She felt the familiar build of another orgasm and with another several thrusts, she came undone, yet again.

At the cries and whimpers of pleasure that erupted from Hermione, George quickened his pace and quickly followed Hermione with his own undoing.

They lay together in post orgasmic bliss for serval minutes, catching their breath before Hermione announced the need to shower again.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked.

"Sure" she answered, leaving her room with nothing but her towel in her hands.

She turned the water on and hopped in, closing her eyes as the warm water washed away the sweat. When George entered, he ran the water over his face and pulled hers to his, capturing her lips under the steady stream of water.

She did not hold back, wanting to show George just how grateful she was for the things he had just done to her. She pressed her body against his as their lips danced this now practiced arrangement and their tongues found one another like they were designed to.

Hermione could feel George's arousal brush against her leg and wondered how on earth he could be ready after what they had just done.

She raised an eyebrow at him and received a shrug in reply.

She tentatively reached down and took his length in her hand. She could just wrap her fingers all the way around, but it was much larger than the size of her hand. She moved her hand slowly up and down the length of it, intrigued by the feeling of it. It was silky and smooth, but hard at the same time. George's eyes closed and he hissed through his teeth when she picked up speed.

She could feel him pulsating in her hand and stopped when he opened his eyes and pressed against her shoulders. She initially felt rejected, however, when he pressed her body against the tiles and lifted her by her backside, she felt a spark of something new.

He lifted her high and when she came back down, she was speared by the length of his erection. Once again, the feeling of complete fullness engaged all of her senses and she was vaguely aware of the water as he pounded her against the tiles.

Her orgasm came quick, as did his and before long, he thanked her with a kiss and set her down on her feet.

~~OvO~~

Completely and thoroughly fucked and clean, Hermione and George flooed to his flat where they each downed a hangover potion. Not that Hermione really needed one any longer, as she found that orgasms were the perfect cure for a headache.

They stood in the kitchen of George's tiny flat for a few moments before he declared that his delivery was due very soon and he would have to sign for it in the shop.

"I think I'll head off anyway. I have a few things I need to take care of" she said, walking towards the fireplace she had stepped out of only moments ago.

"Right… well… I'll see you then?" he asked.

"No, not the awkwardness. I thought we shagged that away?" she asked.

"Maybe we need to do it more? I'm thinking, daily shagging in order to avoid the awkwardness" he said with a cheeky grin.

"I missed that smile" she said, taking his chin in her hand.

"I missed feeling this happy" he said.

"I'm glad I'm making you happy" she said.

"I know we didn't ask for this and I'm most likely the last person you thought you'd end up with, but I really enjoyed spending time with you Hermione" he said, looking into her eyes.

As she looked back, she noticed something she hadn't ever seen before. Where Ron's eyes were blue, like all the Weasleys, George's were a much brighter shade. She had compared them to the brightest part of the ocean before, but now, as she looked into them, there was something more. Something else she hadn't seen before. Inside that blue ocean, were flecks of green and yellow. So tiny that if you didn't take the time to notice, but they were there. They were like the sun shining on the brightest part of the ocean. And she was being completely and utterly pulled in.

"I've had a great time. I hope that we can make something of this" she said, before kissing him lightly on the lips and stepping backwards into the floo.

~~OvO~~

Hermione entered the living room of her parent's house and collapsed on the lounge.

Her mind was reeling from the events of the last 18 hours and he had no idea where her thoughts, feelings or emotions sat in relation to Ron, George or any of it.

She loved Ron so incredibly much and felt that a huge part of her always would, but the uninhibited fun that she had with George last night and the surprising passion that engulfed them was something she had no idea could exist.

She closed her eyes and thought of Ron and how he would feel if he knew that she had shagged his brother less than a week after they had been forced to break up. Suddenly, Hermione bolted upright and she felt a sickness that had nothing to do with being hungover.

"Ron and I didn't actually break up" she said out loud to herself.

She gathered her purse and stepped into the kitchen, deciding it was best to talk with Ron sooner, rather than later.

She turned on the spot and found herself coming to a stop at the gate to the Burrow. She would officially break up with Ron and remind him how much she loved him but explain how it was all for the best.

The ring he fashioned out of a vine by the river only a week ago sat comfortably in the palm of her hand and she held it tight as she walked up the dirt path to the front door of the house. The ring that the ministry provided shone in the sun light, reminding her what it was she had to do.

When she knocked, Ginny answered the door.

"Why are you knocking? You practically live her Hermione" Ginny said, pulling Hermione inside by the hand.

"I don't know, its just… Well, it's odd now, don't you think?" she asked.

"Well, no. I don't think. You're family. Actually family. You're marrying into the family in a couple of weeks" Ginny said with a smile.

"Hmm, I suppose" Hermione said.

"You ok? You seemed to be having a great time last night" Ginny said, looking tentatively at the other girl.

"I'm ok, I think. It was hard beyond belief, but George is fun" Hermione said, sitting on the couch in the living room.

"I know, it was so strange, he hasn't smiled since… well, you know… Its been hard. I think you'll be good for him Mione" Ginny said, putting her feet on the coffee table.

Hermione thought it was strange the way that no one ever said Fred's name. She would bring it up with them at some point but now was definitely not the right time.

"I just feel so bad for Ron. We have… had… something great" Hermione said.

"I suppose" Ginny said.

"You suppose?" Hermione asked, wondering if there was something she wasn't telling her.

"Well, you and Ron… Never really made a lot of sense, did it?"

"And me and George do?"

"Well, no not really"

"Is he home?" Hermione asked, hoping to have a heart to heart.

"I think he's in his room. Mum's at the market so you can go in there if you like" Ginny said.

"Ginny, I have a sparkling ring on my finger that tells me I am now property of your _other_ older brother. Nothing's gonna happen" Hermione said, getting up from the lounge.

"Well, be sure to cast a silencio regardless" Ginny said, plucking a random book off the shelf beside her.

Hermione climbed the stairs to the top of the house and knocked tentatively on the attic door.

"Come in" came Ron's voice.

"Hey" she said.

"Oh, Hermione. Uh, hi. How are you?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck from where he sat at his desk. Hermione looked around and realised that someone must have placed an extension charm on the room, because it seemed much bigger than last time she had been in there. Harry now seemed to have a whole section of the room to himself, which included a proper bed and a desk.

"I'm ok. I think I'll be ok" she said.

"I was worried about you" he said.

"I haven't been ok Ron. This whole thing, it really got to me. I thought we'd be it" she said, sitting on the end of his bed.

"Me too, I really wanted us to be. I mean… We were going to finish school together, get a place. I had so many plans" he said.

"And now…"

"Now, they're all…"

"Gone"

"Or replaced"

"With someone else" she finished.

"We're not technically married off yet though" he said moving his chair close to where she sat.

"No, we're not. But Ron, the reason I'm here is because we need to officially break it off" she said.

Ron came closer still and placed a hand on the side of Hermione's head.

"You know, I loved you before… I loved you when you were Hermione know it all, recite from the textbook Granger. I loved you when that troll was in the dungeon with you. I loved you when Krum took you to the ball and loved you when I stupidly left during the war months. I love you still, but I think I can let you go" he said. "I just… I want to say goodbye" he said, leaning closer to Hermione's face.

Hermione sat frozen on the spot. Ron had never made such a declaration to her. His feelings were something she had only ever guessed at. She closed her tear-filled eyes as Ron leant in closer and she moaned quietly as his lips brushed against hers.

"Ron… I…" she began, but words now eluded her. She loved Ron. She missed Ron. She had sex with Ron's brother 3 times in the last 10 hours. She was engaged to Ron's brother. She was getting married in a couple of weeks.

She reached up and captured his face on her hands, deepening the kiss. Surely a goodbye kiss wouldn't hurt?

Ron leant further forward, leaning Hermione back and pressing himself against her.

She felt his arousal press against her hip as he ground himself against her.

"Ron, we shouldn't" she said, pulling her face away from him onslaught of kisses"

"I know. Its wrong. Its so wrong. I don't want to hurt you; I don't want to hurt Lavender or George... I just… I need you to know how I feel about you before this ends" he said.

"Ron, I know. You love me. I love you too, so much, but we are wearing these rings that say we belong to someone else" Hermione said.

"We're not married yet Hermione. We don't belong to anyone" he said.

Hermione looked into Ron's striking blue eyes. The eyes that were different to Georges. Very different. She saw that now. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, bringing Ron's face back to her own, kissing him again. She was sure she would regret this, but Ron was right. They needed a goodbye. They needed closure.

Ron pulled his short off over his head as Hermione did the same to her own. Ron pulled her pants and underwear down her legs in one and tossed them onto the floor and pulled the front of his own pants down as well. He kissed her as he thrust into her and groaned as she wrapped her legs around his body. His movements were not the skilled movements that George had demonstrated, but the sloppy jackhammering motions of someone who was inexperienced. She wondered briefly how George had become skilled in sex, but was dragged from her thoughts when Ron's motions became quicker and his kisses sloppier. Hermione hadn't had time to think about her own pleasure before Ron came with a shudder and a groan and fell to her side.

She lay there in shock and pulled the blankets from Ron's unmade bed over her lower half.

"You're incredible, you know that?" he asked.

She simply nodded and made to get up as tears welled in her eyes. She felt dirty and sick and like she had just made the biggest mistake of her life.

She picked up her clothes and dressed quickly, not wanting Ron to see the emotion on her face. She discreetly wiped the tears away as she put her top back on and headed for the door.

"I'll miss you" Ron said from where he sat on his bed, leaning against the bed head.

"Yeah, me too" she said.

"Let's not let it get awkward, ok?" he asked.

"That sounds like a great idea. So, we friend again?" she asked.

"I mean, I'll always love you Hermione, but yes friends" he said.

Hermione left his room in a hurry and ran down the stairs, stopping on the second floor when her tears fell too heavily for her to see.

"I told you to put silencing wards up" Ginny said from the bottom of the stairs, walking up.

"I didn't… Nothing happened. That's not what I went there for" Hermione said.

"Puh-lease Hermione. You and Ron had unresolved sexual issues. A last hurrah" Ginny said with a shrug.

"Ginny, I've done something terrible" Hermione said, not trying to hide her devastation.

"Oh shit" Ginny said.

"Shit indeed" she said as Ginny pulled her into the room, they had shared for the last several years.

"Ginny, George and I… well… we had such a great time last night and we went back to my parents house…" Hermione said.

"Oh my Good Godric, you shagged George?" Ginny asked.

"Several times, I think" she said.

"Well, it must have been alright" Ginny said. "Wait, no. Nope, he's my brother. Don't wanna know" she said.

"Well, I felt guilty when I realised that Ron and I hadn't actually officially called it off yet. I only came here to break it off, but then Ron started talking about how much he loved me and how he wanted one last goodbye…" Hermione said.

"Merlin Hermione, you got played" she said.

"Played?" she asked.

"One last hurrah? I bet it was awful. You weren't even up there for 15 minutes" she said.

"It wasn't very nice, no" Hermione said. "I feel horrible saying it. But… That seemed to be all about him. I didn't really even know what was going on before it was all over" she said.

"Well, that's good. Its not really cheating. I mean, this is a crazy time, a really awful cross over period. So no one can be angry for this" Ginny said.

"So you understand then? You're not mad?" Hermione asked.

"No way. And if you decide to tell my stupid older brother and he is mad, I'll sort him out" Ginny said.

"I don't think I'll tell him" she said.

"I wouldn't. There's no need" she said.

"I need to go" Hermione said.

"Go home, have a bath, read a book or ten. You'll be fine" Ginny said, pulling Hermione into a hug.

"I really think George and I have a chance to be good together" Hermione said.

"I hope so" Ginny said as Hermione left the room.

~~OvO~~

* * *

**AN- So yep, that happened. I know what you're all going to say "Why is she so in love with Ron but jumped straight in with George?" I don't really have a solid answer for that, which is how Hermione would be feeling. She loves Ron, but knows that sooner or later, she'll need to be with George in that way, so i suppose, in her drunken state, her illogical brain decided it was a good idea. And... really, it was. They had a great time at the dinner, danced, made each other smile for the first time which was crazy. They had a good time and celebrated with a shag. Then she went and shagged Ron only a little while after George. Such a messed up young person with a traumatic background.**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN- Thank you for the reviews, Smithback, and emyschoice. Great feedback which I have taken into consideration. Glad you're all a fan of the smutty chapter. Emyschoice, the secret will not be kept for long. **

**Please enjoy this next chapter which is far less smuttier and remember to review as always.**

* * *

~~OvO~~

Hermione stepped into Weasley's Wizards Wheezes after standing outside for what felt like hours. She was going to Hogwarts the following day and was desperate to find out where she stood with George before she left. She hoped that he would visit her so they could start getting to know each other better and if the ministry wanted her pregnant within a year, she would have to get started with that.

She looked around the store and smiled at the reminders of Fred that were everywhere. She wondered how George could possibly stand it, but then she figured he might be happier here among their creations, where he felt closer to Fred.

As she perused the shelves, she seriously considered buying a pink Pygmy Puff. She had a basket filled with items that she deemed to be too brilliant for a joke shop. Pimple potion, everlasting eyelashes, daydream charms and a selection of lollies and treats filled her basket. She recalled being hard on the twins when they were at school, however, that was when they were mostly selling things like skiving snackboxes and love potions. The more she saw of the newest inventions, the more she was in awe of the brilliance of Fred and George. She was now seeing, more than the loss of Fred as a brother or a son, the world had lost an incredibly brilliant mind.

"Find something you like?" George asked, approaching her from behind, making Hermione jump.

"Well, yes I think so. These things George, they're incredible. The WonderWitch line itself is marvellous" she said.

"Except for the love potions" he asked with a wink.

"Well, yes, of course" she said.

"Who needs one of those though, hey?" he asked.

"Those eyelashes are great, but you may need to trim them every now and then. They have a sort of growth charm on them" he said, picking things up out of her basket.

"Thanks for the tip" she said, standing awkwardly in the isle.

"I thought we got rid of the awkwardness" George said.

"We did, we really did, but still… I don't know how to behave around you. We're engaged, we'll be married in a few weeks, but… I don't know. Are we dating? What's the protocol here?" she asked,

"I don't think there is one" he said, straightening up a shelf.

"This isn't something I can learn from a book… trust me, I tried" she said truthfully.

"How about you come over later this afternoon. You can watch me cook dinner and we'll figure out our own protocol" he said with a smile.

"George… we can't just shag our way out of our problems" she said quietly.

"Of course we cant. But it's certainly a great way to pass the time, isn't it?" he asked.

Hermione just rolled her eyes and made her way to the register where Angelina Johnson was tending to the customers.

"Oh, Angelina… How are you?" Hermione asked her, knowing that the with had been dating George in the recent past.

"I'm alright. Can't say I'm too impressed with the marriage law. I just made it on the Holyhead Harpies reserve team. Now I've got to go and get pregnant to… Uhhh… I can't even say his name. How could I ever…?" she said.

"You got in with the Harpies? Congratulations. I'm sure, as Kingsley said, they will make allowances for those with children" Hermione said.

"Yes, well… I can't even look at my match, let alone procreate with him" she said.

"Come on Ang, Theo isn't that bad" George said, coming up behind Hermione.

"Well, you pair got lucky anyway. That's all I have to say" she said.

"Wait, didn't you two date at one stage?" Hermione asked.

"Many moons ago. Before the war" Angelina said, looking at George questioningly.

"Katie got Lee" George said, changing the subject.

"Well, that's lovely. They always seemed to be friends, weren't they?" Hermione asked.

"They were already a pretty hot and heavy item" Angelina said.

"What about Alicia?" Hermione asked.

"Goyle. From your year" Angelina said.

"Oh, my… that's going to be… rough" Hermione said.

"At least you'll be able to band together. Hang out while you're at events and whatnot" George said.

"I'm not attending Slytherin events, thank you very much" Angelina said.

"Create the Slytherin Wives Club or something and host your own events" Hermione shrugged.

"That's actually a fantastic idea. We can take hallucinogens that allow us to actually get near enough to our husbands so we can become impregnated" she said, laughing.

"Quite the scandal" Hermione said, laughing at the joke.

After the joke passed, Hermione sighed.

"How much do I owe you for all of this?" she asked.

"Honey, you are part owner of this place now, you have it for free" Angelina said.

"Oh, no, absolutely not, I can't" she said.

"Yes… You can" George said.

Hermione stood stunned, staring at George while he bagged her things for her.

"Here you go darling fiancé" he said, handing the bag to her and kissed her on the cheek. The public display of affection was as much of a shock to Hermione as not having to pay for anything in George's shop.

"I'll see you later then?" she asked.

"Floo in at 6" he said.

"See you then" she said awkwardly, leaving the shop. She walked around Diagon Alley for a while and stopped in and purchased potions supplies as well as parchment and various shades of ink. She was quite well stocked for her return to Hogwarts.

She enjoyed watching people go about their business as they usually would on day before they returned to Hogwarts. It was a sign that things had changed for the better.

She saw loads of young people coming and going from Olivanders, and she hesitated at the thought if going and checking in on him. He was very unwell last time she saw him, and she had hoped that in the time since, he had been able to get better.

She passed the idea off when she saw how busy he was and made her way to Eeylops Owl Emporium to finally buy herself an owl. She had thought about holding off, however, she figured she would be writing to George a lot over the next few months and would need a reliable owl. The door chimed from a bell that hung above it when she entered. There were over a dozen cages lined up against each wall and in each cage, a unique owl stood, staring out at her. She glanced at the birds one at a time and became a little disheartened when none stood out to her. On the last isle, there was a sign stating that they were 'premium owls'. She figured she had more than enough money from the compensation and reward from the ministry after the war and she already owned a house. She really had very little need to hoard it so figured she'd spend it.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to a snowy owl who hooted happily from its cage.

"Oh, hello there" she said, looking at the owl in wonder. It looked quite like Harry's owl Hedwig.

"She's a beauty. Rescued from some death eaters she was" a shop attendant told her.

"Do you know its origins?" she asked.

"Her leg tag told us all we needed to know. She was born from one of the snowy's that was sold here in 91 and sat on the shelf for a few weeks until she was picked up by a death eater. We were given a fake name when she was purchased so can't tell you who had her up until recently" he said with an apologetic look in his eyes.

"Are you able to tell me the name of the owl who was her mother?" she asked.

"Why so many questions?" he asked.

"I'm so sorry, my friend had an owl who looked just like her. She died, unfortunately. Hit by the killing curse" she said.

"Oh Merlin, I'm so sorry. Give me a moment" he said, rushing off to the back of the store.

Hermione looked over the other owls in the section before her eyes rested on what was labelled as a screech owl. It was many shades of brown and ginger and the feathers on top of its head stood up like cat's ears. Its eyes were a glorious yellow colour.

"Oh my. Hello" she said to the owl. It hooted several times in response and appeared to do a sort of bounce on its perch. "Would you like to come home with me? I may buy your friend over there as well" she said. The owl seemed to be ok with this, as it hooted once more.

"The wizard who purchased this owl's mother was Rubeus Hagrid. Does that mean anything to you?" he asked.

"Oh my. This is… This is Hedwig's daughter" Hermione said, tears in her eyes. "I'll take her and this screech owl as well" she said, wondering how Harry would feel at being gifted an owl that came from his beloved Hedwig.

"Excellent. Marvellous" he said.

"How much?" she asked.

"Twenty galleons each, given that they're already trained. Thirty and I'll throw in some food and treats. You just need to let them fly around a little to get used to where you live, and they'll know their way anywhere. Especially her. She's incredibly gifted, that one" he said, indicating to the screech owl. "Got a name?" he asked.

"Hermione" she answered.

"I mean, for the owl" he said, writing Hermione's name down in a book anyway.

"Oh… well, not really" she said.

"Well, her name at the moment is Morgan. If you like it, keep it. If not, feel free to change it but you'll have to teach her" he said.

"Morgan… Sounds nice. I think I'll keep it. What is the Snowy owls name?" she asked.

He flicked through another book. "Aruna" he answered.

"That's lovely. I'll let Harry know. Thank you so much" she said, navigating her way to the exit of the shop with two owl cages and all of her other shopping.

Once outside of the store, she shrunk her shopping and placed them into her bag and set about to the Leaky Cauldron to travel home.

"Miss Granger, to what do I owe the pleasure?" asked Tom the barkeeper as she entered.

"Just on my way home. Picked up these fantastic creatures" she said.

"Oh my, they're beauties" he said.

"Can I floo with them? I've never flood with an animal before" she said.

"Sure thing. Some don't like it but it don't hurt them any" he said.

"Wonderful, thanks Tom" she said, stepping into the floo and heading home.

She placed Morgan's cage on the bench in the kitchen and filled her bowl with food and water. She opened the door and patted her on the head.

"Welcome home sweet girl" she said, and the owl responded with a hoot. "I'll be right back, I'm going to take Aruna to Harry" she said, wondering if she had lost the plot for real now that she was conversing with an owl.

She floo'd to the Burrow and presented Harry with the snowy owl. As soon as he set eyes on her he'd known she was special. He decided to keep her name to make it easier on her to adjust. He thanked Hermione with a hug before she announced she had to leave. It was only supposed to be quick, but it was now 5pm and she was running late for her dinner with George.

She rushed around getting ready. She charmed all the unwanted body hair off, using charms she learn from a book she picked up at Flourish and Blotts called Self-care, Beauty and Hygiene Practice for Young Witches. It went into detail about basic make up charms and hair removal charms. She wondered where this information had been her whole life. She was now feeling fresh and clean and ready to go. She paced around the living room at 5:55pm, anxious to get to Georges place. She wasn't sure what they would do. Sex, probably, which she wasn't opposed to. She recalled the feeling of George's tongue on her and she almost fainted at the memory. She wondered if she would be able to return the favour. Not yet. She wasn't ready to do _that_ just yet.

As soon as the clock on the wall hit 6, she stepped into the floo and disappeared in a cloud of dust. She thought she'd need to clean that when she returned home.

She stepped out into George's flat to find it completely different from when she was there only days ago.

"Wow, you've really cleaned the place up" she said, noticing him standing in the kitchen.

"Well, can't have it looking like a frat house forever, can i?" he asked.

"No, certainly not" she said, as George made his way over to where she stood by the fireplace, brushing the dust off herself.

She took two small steps towards him before they came face to face. She wondered if she should kiss him, hug him, snog him… She was awkward.

"Don't" he whispered in her ear as he kissed her cheek.

"I'm not" she said, rolling her eyes. She was. She _so_ was.

"We're having a simple spaghetti for dinner; I hope that's ok" he said as he walked away from her.

"That sounds great" she said, sitting on a stool at the kitchen bench, across from where he stood stirring the sauce.

"How was the rest of your day? Did you get what you need?" he asked.

"It was fine. I got all my supplies and an owl" she said.

"An owl?" he asked.

"A screech owl named Morgan" she said.

"Grey?"

"Red"

"Nice choice of colour"

"I thought so. I found another owl while I was there. She was a rescue. Some death eater had her locked up somewhere. Turns out, she is the daughter of Harry's owl, Hedwig" Hermione said, taking the glass of wine that George handed to her.

"That's incredible. What did Harry think of it?"

"He loved her. Absolutely adores her" she said.

"That's nice then" he said, turning back to the stove.

"So, cooking the muggle way?" she asked.

"I find that the sauce sticks to the bottom if I leave it to magic" he said.

"Well, as long as you can cook. Harry, Ron and I almost died from starvation from my lack of cooking ability" she said.

"So… not the brightest witch of your age then?" he asked with a smile.

"Hm, perhaps not" she said, returning his smile.

The banter was great so far, she thought.

"So, how was your day? How was work?" she asked.

"Work was great. I finished gathering all the new stock and am ready to open the new store tomorrow" he said.

"New store? Since when?" she asked, confused.

"Since it was always our dream to have a store in Hogsmead and Zonko's didn't recover from the war. I nabbed it for a bargain" he said.

"Hogsmead? Wow, that means you'll be close then?" she asked.

"To Hogwarts? Yeah" he said.

"And to me" she said.

"Well, of course" he said, laughing.

"There you go again…" she said.

"What?"

"Laughing. It's nice" she said.

"Well…" he said with a shrug.

"I bet you miss Fred a lot" she asked, mentally kicking herself for asking a dumb question.

"More than I ever thought I would or could miss anyone" he said, all signs of a smile gone.

"He'd be proud of you" she said.

"For what? Stealing Ronnikens girlfriend and shagging her senseless?" he asked.

"Well, there's that… But also, for the shop. You've help it together over the last few months. I really commend that" she said.

"Well, he wouldn't have wanted me to fall into a pit and now get out. I know I haven't been my usual self, but I haven't exactly been holed up in bed either" he said.

"Did you ever talk about what you or he would do if one of you died?" she asked, taking a glass he handed to her.

"I suppose we did. We always said we'd continue the shop, no matter what. The world needs jokes and games" he said.

"And your wonder witch line" she added.

"And that" he said.

"I wonder if there's more you can create in that particular line. I know, when I was younger, I would have snapped up some kind of hair potion or, dare I say, a teeth shrinking potion" she said.

"You might be onto something there" he said.

"Maybe keep the wonder witch line all about love potions and cheap gimmicks, but you could really profit from some basic care products for young witches. And if you're in the area, you'll sell quickly" she said.

"Hermione's hair care line?" he asked.

"Godric no" she said.

"Why not?" he asked, straining the sauce.

"We're going to be married. You will own half the business. This is your idea… Any more reasons?" he asked.

"Well, I'm certainly no inventor George" she said.

"Yet" he said with a wink as he plated up their dinner.

George levitated the plates and cutlery to the small dining table, and they took their seats. George picked up his glass and held it in Hermione's direction.

"To us" he said.

"To going back to school"

"To business ideas"

"To NEWTS"

"To not needing NEWTS"

"To overdoing it in the toasts?" she asked.

They clinked glasses and sipped their drinks.

"You're trying to get me drunk, aren't you?" she asked, tasting the delicious wine he had served and sensing it was quite strong in the alcohol content.

"No, jut relaxed" he said.

She nodded at this and began eating her spaghetti.

"This is incredible" she said.

"Have you met my mother? When her children move out, she gifts them all with a recipe book. All of her classics and some favourites for the individual" he said.

"Your mother is incredible"

"She's all excited about having grandchildren" he said.

"Well, she will soon be flooded with them. She sort of has no choice" she said.

"How do you feel about that? Being forced to have children" he asked, she sensed his serious tone hidden behind his words.

"I mean, I see why it needs to happen, I just wish I had more time. I wish we had more time. We could have gone on a honeymoon or we could have travelled a bit. I wanted a career" she said.

"It is a bit rushed" he said.

"I will more than likely be pregnant before I finish school" she said.

"Well, I mean… We can live here if you like, or I can spend mt days off looking for a place for us to live… and you can work once you finish school if that's what you want. I'll out some galleons away so we can travel for a couple of weeks when you graduate... and mum will more than likely look after our child so you can work. Or I'll take time off" he said.

"Wow, you've really figured it out, haven't you?" she asked.

"I've thought about a lot of things" he said.

"We can stay at my place if you want. My parents signed it over to me when they decided to stay in Australia" she said.

"Wow, that's… you own you own house. That's great" he said, twirling his spaghetti with his fork.

"I mean, I redecorated a little, but you can make it your home too if you like" she said.

"It's probably better we live there then" he said.

"Well, once we're married, its half yours anyway" she said. "And don't go saving your galleons. I have more than enough in my vault to travel" she added. Thinking about the things he said.

"I just… I know we were forced together, but I want to at least try and make you happy" he said.

"I think we'll be happy. Even if we never make it beyond just friends" she said.

"Oh, I think we've moved beyond that, don't you?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows.

She rolled her eyes and continued eating her dinner. Their conversation flowed easily around the idea of what Hermione wanted to do when she graduated, if she hadn't been forced to procreate. George still wanted to expand the business and offered Hermione a position in management, which she politely declined. She had her sights set on the ministry, hoping to create some change in some area of the magical world.

When they were finished, George, despite Hermione's insistence, took their plates to the kitchen and returned with apple pie and custard for dessert, which was delicious.

They were soon finished and Hermione sensed some unease come over her. Now what? She thought.

"Well, do you want to take our wine out on the balcony?" George asked.

"You have a balcony?" she asked.

"Of course. You can see up and down Diagon Alley and a little into Knockturn alley from here" he said, heading to the far end of the flat where there was a curtain. He pulled back the curtain, revealing a sliding glass door which opened out onto a concrete balcony with a table and chairs. There were some fairy lights providing some light on the small space.

"This is nice" she said.

"It's not much. But its home" he said, leading the way outside.

Hermione stood at the railing looking out to the alley below. There were a few people walking around, going about their business, but overall the place was quiet. A significant contrast to earlier in the day.

George stood beside her, looking down on the street below, having moved on from the glass of wine, now just drinking straight from the bottle.

"Fred and I used to do this every afternoon. We'd watch people and make up stories about who they were and what they were doing" he said, creating a silence that hung in the air between them for several moments.

"Like that man down there. He's cheating on his wife so he's pretending to be working late" Hermione said.

"He's going to the Leaky Cauldron to meet his mistress"

"Everyone except his wife knows about the affair"

"Even their teenage kids know".

"And they like the mistress more than their own mother" they both laughed.

"Because their mother is part troll".

"Or just really strict" Hermione said.

They both stood watching the man as he continued down the alley and entered the Leaky Cauldron. They both laughed and sat at the table.

"That was fun" she said.

"Yeahhhh" he said.

"I think we need to make some plans for the next few months" Hermione said in her most serious tone.

"I agree" George said, sitting straight upright in his seat.

"Well, I expect you'll be quite busy for a few weeks setting up the new shop, so I won't bother you until… probably Halloween? The ministry should have been in touch about the group wedding by now, but I assume we'll be hearing in the next few days. I expect Molly will want to arrange something for afterwards, but I was thinking that people will all want to celebrate with their families so perhaps it might be best to organise something bigger, for everyone to attend. I might talk to McGonagall about it. I think we should plan some weekends to spend time together. You can come to the castle for meals and things if you like. I expect that will be allowed by the headmistress" she finished.

"Wow, yeah, that's a lot of planning. Well… I was thinking of just winging it. This… relationship… isn't something that we need to plan, Hermione. I'll come to the castle for meals and we can plan our time as we go" he said, shrugging.

"What about the marriage ceremony?" she asked, knowing that they couldn't just wing their whole relationship.

"Well, I think you're right. Hogwarts would be the best place to celebrate with everyone we know. I'll talk to mum. She might be grateful not to have to throw 4 parties" he said.

"And I'll talk to McGonagall" Hermione said.

"What about… Well, I'll need to be pregnant within a year" she said, thinking logically.

"Weekends? Holidays, afternoons, free periods, before breakfast, after breakfast, between classes…" he said.

"ok, ok I get it" she said, blushing. Merlin, why was the subject of sex so difficult to discuss? She was an adult, a war heroine, a logical academic thinker and this shouldn't be difficult for her.

"No doubt McGonagall will have had some instruction from Kingsley anyway, so I wouldn't worry about missing out on your time with Georgie" he said with a grin. If he didn't look so young and carefree, she'd have slapped him.

"Oh Merlin" she sighed.

"Yeah, that's what you will be saying… Although, with sightly different tone" he said with a wink.

"Ok sexpert" she said.

"Ok, ok I will stop. Plan. You want a plan. Here we go, You go to Hogwarts tomorrow. I'll be setting up the new shop for the next few days, but I will owl you. As soon as the weekend comes, come visit me. Check out the new shop. I'm getting staff, so I will have the day off. We'll have lunch and see what happens from there. No doubt you'll have some information by then anyway. We'll attend the group wedding ceremony and you'll talk to McGonagall about the reception at the castle. We'll see each other during times that you have off so we can do what we need to do" he said.

"You really have got all this figured out, don't you?" she asked.

"Yes, I do, now please… I've been desperate to kiss those lips since you flood through my fireplace and stood awkwardly in my living room" he said, leaning towards her.

"Well, if you're desperate, who am I to deny?" she said, leaning the rest of the way to meet his lips.

She kissed him gently, allowing him to lead. She wasn't surprised when his kiss quickly built into something more. His hands grabbed the back of her chair and pulled it closer to his, so that her knees were touching his chair. He kissed her again, now with a hand in her hair and one on her hip.

She never knew that George could be so passionate or so eager. He was coming across as somewhat desperate, but then again, so was she. She had found a connection with George in the physical, and it was something that she knew she could build upon, if she just accessed that connection regularly. She didn't love him in the way that a wife loves her husband, but she cared for George in the way that she had always cared for each one of the Weasleys. George could make Hermione feel things that she hadn't ever felt before. If she compared her experiences with George to those she had had with Ron, George was so much more giving, he thought about Hermione before he thought about himself. Ron was quite a selfish lover. He never really touched her, there was no build up, no going slow. It had always been so fast, and he had only brought her to orgasm once. The thought of Ron triggered something in Hermione, and she pulled away.

"Is everything ok?" he asked.

"Yes, well, sort of" she said.

"Do you want to stop?" he asked.

"Godric no. But I think there's something I need to tell you" she said.

"Uh-oh" he said, sitting back in his chair.

"I know. Its… something happened and before we go any further, I think you need to know" she said.

"Ok. Well, can I kiss your neck while you tell me?" he asked.

"No, I don't think that's a good idea" she said.

"Oh, Merlin, this is serious isn't it?" he asked.

"Please don't think less of me, ok?" she asked.

"You're Hermione Granger. I couldn't think less of you if I tried" he said.

"Well… After our night together, I sort of realised that Ron and I hadn't officially broken up. I went to see him to talk, to come up with a plan for us to be friends…" she began. As she spoke, George pulled away slightly. It was not a good sign, but she couldn't back out now. "Well, I went to the Burrow and he was in his room. I went up there, to break it off and to say goodbye to our relationship. Whatever it was that we had. He was being really nice about it, told me he's loved me since first year. He hadn't ever really spoken to me like that and I was caught completely off guard. He kissed me and well… we… it was over before I really realised what had happened. It was nothing, it was like saying goodbye. I realised that as soon as it was over. But I do regret it. I wasn't going to tell you, but I can't have this hanging over my head forever" she said.

George leant back in his chair with his hands behind his head. He appeared to be thinking. It wasn't good and the silence seemed to stretch on forever.

Hermione stood, "I'm sorry George. I'll just go now and give you some time to think about this. I know we haven't spoken about being exclusive, but I should have respected the engagement and I'm sorry" she said, turning and heading back through the door, walking to the fireplace and flooing home before George said a word.

She was standing in her living room before she really realised what had happened. The logical part of her brain was seeming to be lost to the automatic response part of her brain these days and she needed it to stop. She should have stayed with George and spoken some more about what happened. If she told him that it only lasted a few minutes, would it make a difference? If she told him that he was better, would it make him be ok with it? Probably not.

She made herself a tea before sitting on the couch and flicking through the channels on the tv.

~~OvO~~

Hermione ate breakfast the following morning quite slowly. She hadn't heard from George, not that she expected to. She had broken an unspoken agreement of exclusivity that accompanied the ring she wore on her finger and she was almost sick thinking about it.

Her toast was cold, and her tea was forming that white layer on top that happens when it goes cold. She stared out the kitchen window and continued mentally chastising herself when she saw an owl heading her way.

"Righto" she said, getting up and opening the window so it could enter her kitchen.

She took the letter from the tie on its leg and gave it the remainder of her toast and let it drink from her cup. It seemed to like it.

She opened the letter containing the ministry seal and read it thoroughly.

_Dear Miss Granger,_

_As per the information given to the newly engaged couples at the engagement ball, please see below the details as they relate to the group marriage ceremony._

_There will be a minister presiding over group ceremonies which will take place over the course of the coming months. There will be several dates that can be chosen from, which will be arranged via a booking system. You will be required to owl a response with your first, second and third preference and you will receive a response within two days. All couples who do not advise of a time or provide information relating to private ceremonies, will be arrested by aurors on the first day of the new year. These individuals will have a choice to be married or to be sentenced to 5 years imprisonment._

_Available dates:_

_5pm Friday 30__th__ October  
1pm Saturday 31__st__ October  
5pm Friday 20__th__ November  
1pm Saturday 21__st__ November  
5pm Friday 11__th__ December  
1pm Saturday 12__th__ December  
5pm Friday 18__th__ December  
1pm Saturday 19__th__ December  
1pm Thursday 31__st__ December_

_All dates are final and can not be altered. Those who fail to marry before the end of the year will be married in a group ceremony on the 2__nd__ of January following their capture. _

_As per previous information provided, you will be responsible for any reception that you wish to hold._

_Dress code is a choice of formal wizard robes or formal muggle attire. If you cannot afford to purchase items for the ceremony, there will be a ministry funded store opening on the Thursday before each ceremony weekend which will provide you with items that are being donated from formalwear stores. _

_A department has been set up within the ministry to answer questions and provide information. You can access this in the lobby of the ministry of magic during business hours. _

_Please discuss the available dates with your match and reply via owl at your earliest convenience, addressed to "Minister for Marriages at the Ministry of Magic, London"_

_Yours sincerely, _

_Percy Weasley,  
Assistant to the Minster of Magic_

Hermione looked over the letter and was pleased to see there was a selection of dates as well as assistance for those who could not afford to dress appropriately for the occasion. She had no problems in that area so would not be needing to seek assistance but she wasn't sure how much money George had, given that he was in the process of opening up a new store. It was something she would have to discuss with him in the near future. That is, if he ever spoke to her again.

She took a pen and paper from the shelf in the living room and wrote a message to George.

_Dear George,  
I am so sorry for how last night ended. If I could take back what I did, I would, however, I do not regret telling you about it.  
I am assuming you received your ministry letter this morning. I think its best we choose a date as soon as possible. Any of those dates would suffice for me. Please feel free to choose some dates and submit them to the ministry on our behalf. We will need to meet in order to coordinate our wedding attire. We can discuss this at a later date.  
Once again, I am sorry and I would understand if you want to rethink the plans we made last night. If you prefer, we can set dates and times based on my cycle, and we can make arrangements to meet up on those days each month.  
Hermione. _

"Are you ready for your first job, Morgan?" Hermione asked her new owl, who simply hooted in response. "They told me you were trained, so if I give you instructions, will you easily follow them and find your way to me at Hogwarts?" she asked.

The owl blinked at her and ruffled its feathers. Hermione stared at her for a moment, wondering if there was a way to actually communicate properly with owls, however, when she opened the cage, the owl hopped out and stuck out her leg for the letter.

"Well, I guess you are quite well trained after all" Hermione said as she tied George's letter to Morgan's leg. "This needs to go to George. He might be at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes at Diagon Alley, but he also may have gone to the new store in Hogsmeade. I'm sorry to make you do this, but please try Diagon alley first then Hogsmeade second. I should be at Hogwarts by then, so you are welcome to go there and find me" she said, scratching the bird on the side of its cheek.

Morgan hooted once before hopping to the open window, looking back at Hermione, then spreading her wings and flying off.

"I really hope she understood what I just said" Hermione said out loud to herself.

Hermione was glad for the fact that she was allowed to apparate to the castle, as she was yet to organise and pack her trunk. She headed upstairs to begin and found herself feeling nostalgic for the days when she was packing for the years that came before. She wondered how different this year would be and realised that she would most likely be pregnant by the time she graduates. The thought shook her and she pushed it aside and continued packing. It was almost lunch time when she finished, but her trunk was completely packed, organised and shrunk to fit in her beaded handbag.

She stood in the living room that she had redecorated to her style and felt at home. She had lived there her entire life, but over the last few years, the house hadn't really felt like home. Now that she had taken over ownership and redecorated, it felt like hers.

She emptied the rubbish bins and threw out all the food from the fridge and cupboards that could go back and went to the garage to disapparate to the gates of the castle.

She found herself standing a few feet from the Hogwarts gates, near a registration table.

"Ah, 'Ermione, its good to see ya" came the unmistakable voice of Hagrid.

"Hi Hagrid, how was your summer?" she asked.

"Well, I spent most me time gettin' the place ready for you lot to come back. Lots o' changes hap'ning around 'ere, you'll see" he said, marking her name off from a clipboard he was carrying.

"How many others have arrived so far?" she asked.

"Just a few" he said.

"Are Ron and Ginny here?" she asked

"Ginny came early to get on with her head girl duties and Ron got here jut a little while ago with Lavender" he said.

"Ron arrived with Lavender?" she asked.

"Interestin' couple they are. I can see why they were matched" Hagrid said.

"Yes, it's quite clear, isn't it?" she said, not able to think of a single thing worse to talk about than her ex-boyfriend and his new fiancé. "Well, Hagrid, I'll make sure I come and visit often. I hope you're not suck here for too long" she said, before making her way through the gates and heading to the castle.

The familiar path both warmed her and drew out of her a slight panic. She spent time here immediately after the war, helping with repairs and things, but the memories of the battle were strong in her mind.

The closer she got the more she realised how unprepared she was for this. Memories of bodies lying, strewn on the grass bombarded her mind and the smell of singed hair and blood returned to her senses full force.

She hadn't been affected by it at the time because she was running on pure adrenalin, but now, she found herself almost reliving every second of the battle with each step she took.

As she came closer to the castle, it appeared slightly different. Not significant in any way, but enough that she could tell. She recalled in the early days of repairs, the castle seemed to refuse to be out back together how it was originally and kept changing itself. She knew from Hogwarts, A History, that the castle had thoughts and emotions. It was more than a building. It had the ability to rebuild itself, recreate pieces of things that were broken and make changes as it saw fit.

This thought process took her out of her panic and engaged her logical brain. She wondered what else would be different.

As she entered, she was faced with a large open area that previously didn't exist. There were some students milling around some tables and a few teachers were sitting behind them talking in quiet conversations.

"Oh, Miss Granger, or is it Weasley?" came the soothing voice of Headmaster McGonagall.

"I am not yet married headmistress" she said.

"Oh, right you are then miss Granger… Its lovely to see you back with us to finish your NEWTS. There are quite a few changes that you will quickly become accustomed to. I ask that you begin here to your left and sit at each table in turn to make arrangements for the year" McGonagall instructed.

"Arrangements?" she asked.

"Things are going to be quite different this year. We need to tailor your final year of education to your future plans and discover what subjects you need and which ones you don't" she said.

"I was planning on taking all of the available subjects professor" Hermione said.

"That simply isn't possible. You will take a minimum of three classes and a maximum of five. There are some added subjects this year and opportunities for teaching apprenticeships" she said.

"Oh, um, wow, that's quite a lot to take in" Hermione said.

"Indeed, it is miss Granger. You will probably find that you will have a significant amount of free time with which to prepare for your future. I advise you use it well. You have a lot to considered over the next eight months" McGonagall said.

"Right. Well, I suppose I ought to get started then" she said, indicating to the desk to her left where Professor Flitwick sat.

She approached the desk and stood beside the chair.

"Ah, miss Granger, please, take a seat and we shall begin" the professor said, flicking through a pile of papers and pulling out one with her name on it.

"Charms has so far been one of your best subjects. Were you intending on taking it this year?" he asked.

"I had intended on taking all of the classes professor" she said.

"Hmm, yes, well I'm sure the Headmaster has spoken to you about this?" he asked.

"Yes, I can take a maximum of five classes" she said, disheartened.

"Any idea which ones you would like to take?" he asked.

"Well, charms, of course. potions, transfiguration, arithmancy, ancient runes…" she said.

"That is five, miss Granger" he said. "What are your career goals?" he asked.

"I want to do something within the ministry. Not minister, of course, but perhaps in law. I was interested in working to aid in the treatment of magical creatures" she said.

"So how about care of magical creatures?" He asked.

"I… I want to do all of the classes, as I said, however, I want to focus on the ones that are beneficial for life skills as well as career prospects. I think that care of magical creatures is an excellent class, however, there are others that would provide more benefit in the long term" she said.

Flitwick was busy scribbling down the things she had said.

"Right you are, right you are. So I will schedule you in for charms, transfiguration, potions and a life skills class" he said.

"What about the rest of them?" she asked. "I was aiming for more than just a few NEWTS" she said, feeling disappointed.

"There will be an opportunity for you to undertake some self-directed study with the syllabus from other courses if your find that you have spare time on your hands. You will be allowed to sit a modified exam for a modified NEWTS in those subjects, however, it is understood that there is very little reason for you to complete any exams Miss Granger, given your role in the war, this is all just a formality" he said.

"So you're basically saying that I could read some books, take and exam and get all my NEWTS just because of who I am?" she asked.

"You're very intelligent, Hermione. You need to evaluate what is best for you right now. You have a lot on your plate, and I think it would be best for you to take these classes…" he handed her a timetable… "and get the scores you deserve" he said.

"Thank you, professor," she said.

"You're welcome. Now onto professor Slughorn who will discuss living arrangements with you" he said.

Hermione stood and walked to the next table where a very large round bellied professor Slughorn was seated.

"Hermione Granger, I hoped to see you today. Please sit. Did you get the classes you hoped for?" he said all at once.

"Thank you, professor. I got some classes, yes", she said.

"Right you are. Well I hope you decided to undertake potions. I have a few very interesting things to show you lot this semester... Well I am here to discuss your living arrangements. As you know, the castle put up a good fight when we tried to repair it. The Gryffindor tower is as it was, as are the rest of the dorms, however, when it was decided that students who were at the age of 20 were to be attending, a new wing was added to the castle to allow for a semblance of independence" he said.

"A new wing?"

"Yes, it comes off the first-floor corridor and has an exit and entry to the outside of the castle as well as its own floo network" he said.

"That is a lot of trust, professor" she said.

"Well, my dear girl, the ministry is putting a lot of responsibility on you this year and its important that the school makes allowances for that as well" he said.

"So, this is for our spouses as well?" she asked.

"There are some students who have spouses at the school and their rooms will be adjoining, and there are some, like yourself, who's spouse is not of schooling age and must reside outside of the school. It is only fitting that they be allowed to visit to ensure the development of the marital relationship" he said.

'_Sex, he means sex'_ Hermione thought to herself.

"That sounds like a great idea" she said.

"Right you are. Well there is another option of course" he said.

"Oh?" she said.

"You can live off the grounds of the castle… Floo in and out everyday for your classes. Its quite unorthodox, however, a few students have signed up for off grounds living" he said.

"I think it would be best if I live at the castle professor" she said.

"Excellent, excellent choice" he said.

"Now, your spouse will need to meet with the headmaster before spending time on the grounds of the castle. I'm sure that it won't be a problem, however, there will need to be a meeting to approve him" he said.

"I can arrange that, thank you" she said.

"Excellent" he said.

"Well, here's the map to your new living quarters. Your room overlooks the lake. The map also includes the midifications to the castle since the battle" he said.

"Thank you professor" she said.

"On you go now, to the next station" he said.

Hermione stood and made her way to the next desk where Madame Pomfrey was eyeing her happily.

"Hermione, how lovely to see you back again" she said.

"It is great to be back, madame" she said.

"Its my job to look out for your health and well being while you finish your studies. It is no secret that things are going to change quite a bit this year and there are certain expectations places on you women to bear children. I have been asked to invite you for monthly health checks" she said.

"By the ministry?" Hermione asked,

"Not at all. Professor McGonagall insisted that I ensure, not only the physical health of our women, but the mental health and well being as well. I want to make sure you are all engaging in healthy consenting relationships and any pregnancies will need to be monitored and safeguarded" she said.

"So, your focus is our wellbeing?" she asked.

"Of course. And I would like to build relationships with you all to ensure you can trust me" she said.

"Will you be delivering babies here?" Hermione asked.

"Well, I don't think it will come to that. In fact, unless there are witches here already pregnant, I don't expect to have anyone get to full term till after the school year finishes" she said.

"You mentioned consensual relationships. What do you mean by that?" Hermione asked.

"It is no secret that the ministry has paired some witches and wizards with individuals that they do not know or have no pre-existing relationship with. There is still an expectation from the ministry that the resulting offspring will be from consensual marital acts and not forced acts" she said.

"That's a stretch, don't you think?" Hermione asked, suddenly aware that there will be witches who could potentially be raped or forced to have sex against their will.

"I didn't say that I like the marriage law, Hermione. I just want to make sure nothing untoward happens under my nose" she said.

"Right" was all Hermione could say.

"Now, please take this gift bag. It contains pregnancy test potions and a few other things that I thought would be necessary for you young ones getting married off. There are some books which have been added to the library that contain information about caring for children. I suggest you have a read when you have some free time" she said.

"Thank you, madame" Hermione said, getting up and making her way to what looked to be the last table.

"Percy, how lovely to see you" she said.

"Hermione how are you?" he asked.

"Fantastic. I see you're the assistant to the minister" she said.

"No longer the junior assistant. I do all of his hard work I'm afraid" he said.

"Well, I guess it doesn't hurt that you're being forced into a marriage too, does it?" she asked.

"I think that's the basic principal" he said. "Now, I won't keep you, I just have some questions for you" he said. "So you are to be married this year to Mr Weasley?" he asked.

"George Weasley, your brother, yes" she answered, wondering why the official nature of the questioning. He appeared to be reading off a script, so she allowed it.

"Right you are. And you have made arrangements for this?" he asked.

"We are going to be attending one of the group ceremonies" she answered.

"And are there plans for a reception?"

"I was going to discuss having one here actually" she said as he furiously wrote down her answers.

"What living arrangements have you elected to adhere to?" he asked.

"I intend to live on Hogwarts Grounds" she said.

"And have you arranged a time for your spouse to attend to be assessed for visitation?" he asked.

"I only just found out a few minutes ago that this was a requirement, so no I have not" she said.

"Will you allow your spouse to spend nights at the castle in your living space?" he asked.

"I guess, if he wants to" she said.

"Have you had discussions with your spouse about how you will ensure a pregnancy occurs within the space of 12 months?" he asked.

"Well…" she began, feeling awkward talking to Percy about this, "I did suggest that I owl him information relating to my cycle so we could arrange to spend time together" she said, feeling her face redden.

Percy's face reddened as he hesitated to ask the next question.

"Miss Granger… have you found yourself interested in seeking a physical relationship with your spouse?" he asked.

"I… I don't think that's really a necessary question to answer. Given we've only been aware of this for 10 days, its inappropriate to think that we've even come to terms with the arrangement, let alone thought about having sex with people we've been forced to marry" she said in a huff.

"I do apologise Hermione, but I have been instructed to ask" he said.

"Well its ridiculous. If the minister wants to know whether or not I want to shag another one of your brothers, then the minister can bloody well come and ask me himself" she said, louder than she thought she had, causing almost everyone in the room to turn and look in her direction.

"I am sorry, Hermione" he said.

"Well, I don't appreciate being questioned like this" she said.

"One more question, if you don't mind…" he said, eyeing her cautiously. She raised an eyebrow in her direction urging him to continue. "Miss… Hermione… Are you fearful of your spouse?" he asked.

"Of course not" she said, getting up and leaving the table.

~~OvO~~

* * *

**Poor Percy. He really didn't want to have to ask his sister-in-law-to-be those questions. Poor guy. I used a map of Hogwarts which I found online to place the new wing of the castle. I think its the best place for it and allows the 8th years the opportunity to have some freedom. They're not children, afterall. We shall see in the next chapter, who Hermione will be sharing her space with. It might get awkward. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Keep the comments and reviews rolling in. I love it. Although, please keep it on topic.**

**George Cristian810, I'm not sure why you would bring up Harry gifting the twins the winnings from the tournament. **** It is expected that this story follows everything that occurred in canon from the end of Deathly Hallows, but before the Epilogue.**** The whole point of THIS story was to explore what would happen if Hermione was forced to marry the brother of her current love interest. That is what we are currently exploring. Nothing about Harry/Hermione, nothing about the money Harry gave the twins. **

**Please enjoy this next chapter. I have a favourite part, which i will reveal in the next chapter. What's everyone elses?**

* * *

~~OvO~~

Hermione was shocked when she saw the 8th year's dorms. She expected small quarters with small beds, similar to those in the Gryffindor tower, however, when she entered from the corridor, she was met with a large circular common room which contained all the house colours. There were several doors leading off into what she expected were other students' rooms and a door that appeared to lead outside, positioned at the opposite end to where she stood.

There was a fireplace, a few desks and a small kitchenette as well as the usual comfy looking couches and bookshelves.

She looked around at each door and saw the names of people she knew. It appeared as though the people who were matched, regardless of returning for their 8th year or being in 7th year were all placed in the new wing.

Ginny had a room to Hermione's left and Luna's was next to hers with Neville beside Luna. Hermione smiled at the memory of the two of them being close at the engagement ball and hoped they were still a strong match. Ron was next, with Lavender beside him. Theo was beside Lavender, then the door to the outside, then Blaise Zabini was next with Hannah Abbott beside him and Pansy Parkinson next with Malfoy beside her. Hermione wondered if they were matched. Hermione's room was last, closest to her right. The thought of sharing a common room with Slytherins never occurred to her. She hadn't thought to find out what happened to Malfoy after the battle and if she were honest with herself, she assumed he had been sentenced to time in Azkaban. She entered her room and began setting up her things just how she liked it. There was a bookshelf in her room which came pre-stacked with parenting and pregnancy books as well as books about marriage and how to be a 'suitable' wife. She wondered if the wizards got books on how to be suitable husbands. The snarky side of her wondered if Ron received a book on how to last longer than a few minutes, but quickly shut that down, remembering that she agreed to continue a friendship with her ex.

She finished unpacking the last of her things when there was a knock at the door. She opened it and found Lavender standing there with a smile on her face.

"Hermione, so happy to see you here. I wasn't sure if you were in yet, you must have been here for a while" she said.

"I've just been setting up. Come in. Do you have these books on your shelf?" she asked.

"Yeah, as if I need that. My cousins have thousands of kids, so I know how to care for children" she said.

"Well, it might be interesting to have a read over it. I might jut glance at it once or twice" Hermione said.

"hmm, yeah, do that. Look… I didn't want to get all awkward or anything, but I need you to know that me and Ron are going to give it a real go" she said, placing a hand on Hermione's shoulder.

"Ohhhh, k" she said.

"Ron told me what happened when you went up to his room the other day and I just want you to know that you can't go doing that. You're with George now. You need to accept that and try and make it work with him" Lavender said.

"Lavender, I don't know what Ron told you, but I went to his house to officially break things off with Ron" she said.

"Well, all I know, is that Ron said you came to his room while he was in the middle of writing his wedding vows to me, told him you loved him and… had sex with him" she whispered the last part.

Hermione was outraged.

"He didn't want me to come to you because he thought it would be awkward. I just think you two need to stay apart for a while. Let me and Ron have a chance at being happy" she said.

"Lavender, you've been given wrong information" Hermione said.

"Ron told me you would say something like that. I don't mind, I forgave Ron for what happened between you two. You were still officially together, but whatever. I don't even mind. Ron promised to be faithful to me and I believe him. Besides, we eloped and got married yesterday so we're officially the first to marry. Ron's a married man so just… Forget all about him, ok?" she said, turning and leaving the room and sending Hermione into a state of shock.

Ron got married?

The door shut behind Lavender and Hermine remained stuck to the spot. Molly would have a heart attack when she found out. Hermione wanted to ask him about it, demand he tell the truth. How could he lie just after they declared to each other that they would stay friends?

She opened her door and once again, overwhelmed by surprise when she came face to face with Malfoy and Pansy.

"Oh, look, its Granger" Pansy said.

"Hi Pansy, Malfoy" Hermione said.

The blonde wizard looked towards Hermione briefly before turning and entering his room.

"You've finally managed to tame that hair of yours. Good on you" Pansy said. Hermione couldn't tell if she meant it as a compliment or an insult, so she just stared at the other witch, waiting for her to continue.

"Look Granger, I know I've done some pretty horrible things in the past, but I've seen the error of my ways and I would like to apologise. I hope that out of all of this, we can become acquaintances and get to know each other. We might even become friends?" she asked.

"Well, I appreciate that Pansy" she said. "And you can call me Hermione" she added, before turning and leaving the common room into the castle.

She had no idea where she was going, but she just needed to get out of there. First Lavender, then that strange look she got from Malfoy and Pansy trying to be her best friend. What was that? Things this year would definitely be strange. As she walked down the corridor, she heard, before she saw Ginny running towards her.

"Hermione, oh dear Godric I'm so glad to see you" she said, flinging herself into her arms.

"Ginny, I'm losing my mind here. Please tell me Percy didn't ask you questions about your sex life" Hermione said.

"Oh, it was so funny. I told him that me and Harry have been shagging since May and when we decide to have children, that's our business" Ginny said, as they headed towards the 8th year common room.

"Merlin. How did he take that?" she asked.

"Not well. He almost fainted" she said.

"Well, he should now better. Half the people returning are either his friends, his family or marrying one of his family members. He could have sent a nobody" Hermione said.

"Then he wouldn't have everybody acknowledging how amazing he is at getting the title of assistant to the minister" Ginny said.

"That's quite true" Hermione said as they entered the common room that Hermione had just fled from.

She helped Ginny set up her room and told her all about what Lavender had said to her. Ginny wasn't surprised that they had eloped. Ron had expressed his concern at a bog wedding and mentioned once or twice that eloping was the way to do it.

Before long, it was time for the other years to arrive and Hermione made her way to the great hall with the rest of the school.

She was shocked to see the regular 4 tables for the 4 houses; however, she hadn't expected the new table, which ran parallel to the professors table. Professor McGonagall indicated for the 8th years to be seated at that table to demonstrate inter house unity.

The rest of the school filed in and everyone was as shocked as Hermione was. The sorting took much longer as there were more students in first year than ever before. These students were between the ages of 11 and 13, as many parents had opted not to send their children for their first year during the war.

Once that was over, McGonagall made some announcements, reminded students about the forbidden forest, advised the younger students that the 8th years had their own space and not to encroach, announced Ginny and Neville as head boy and girl and concluded with wishes of good luck to everyone for a safe and productive year.

Hermione ate in silence, sitting beside Ginny who was pining over missing Harry.

"We haven't spent time apart since the battle. I don't know how I'm going to manage" Ginny said.

"I'm sure you'll be fine" Hermione said.

"Is he aright then?" Pansy asked from a few places down.

"Alright? What do you mean?" Ginny asked.

"In the sack, I mean, he's a hell of a dueller, can fight a mean battle but does he know what he's doing?" Pansy asked, drawing out a laugh from both Ginny and Hermione.

"Oh, Pansy, you're so funny. I'm not telling you anything" she said.

"very well then. Draco and I are saving ourselves for our wedding night" she said, receiving a scowl from her fiancé.

"So its true then? You and Malfoy are matched?" Hermione asked.

"Of course. We belong together. We're both purebloods and have the best chance at continuing the existence of a pure bloodline" she said, earning an eyeroll from Hermione.

"But why are you saving yourselves if you've already been together for years?" Ginny asked.

"Well, it's the appropriate thing to do, isn't it?" Pansy said.

Hermione just shrugged and resumed her focus on her potatoes.

To the other side of her, she could hear whispered conversations between Neville and Luna and it made her smile to think that the ministry at least got a few things right. To the other side of them sat Lavender, who was admiring her wedding set and Ron who was admiring the chicken on his plate.

Hermione envisioned this year to be quite complex.

That evening, she returned to her room to find Morgan perched on the window sill, happily eating some owl treats Hermione had left in case of her return.

"No reply?" she asked her. The owl hooted once and closed her eyes. Hermione took that to be a no, so she settled down with a book and hoped tomorrow would be better.

~~OvO~~

At breakfast the next day, Hermione was sullenly forcing down some bacon and eggs. She saw so many positive couples in her dorm, even Hannah Abbott, who was matched with Blaise Zabini seemed to be getting to know her fiancé.

Timetables were reissued to those who lost theirs, along with a list of rules and expectations for 8th years. As it appeared, they were able to come and go from the grounds as they wished. There was no expectation that they would stick to a curfew, however, they had to tap in and out of the grounds as they went, on a device which had been installed near the gates. They were told that they just tapped their wands and it checked them in and out of the grounds. It was the closest thing, Hermione thought, to a muggle device.

There were still a few days before the beginning of classes so, Hermione considered making her way to Hogsmead to check in with George. She got herself ready after breakfast, but as she was about to head out the door of her room, an owl appeared in her window.

She took the parchment from its leg and fed it a treat, before it flew away. Morgan hooted in annoyance at the intruder but remained on her perch.

She opened the letter and smiled to herself.

_Dear Hermione,  
Sorry I haven't written sooner or been to visit. I received your letter and I sat down so many times to respond but the words ever came to me. When you told me what happened, I reacted poorly. I should have been more supportive. It has to be quite difficult being forced to leave something that was seemingly working well and jumping into something with me that feels as awkward as you seem when we're together. I don't want that for you. I also think I will stop referring to us as 'shagging away the awkwardness'. In fact, I rather enjoy shagging you, just because. That thing that happened with Ron, I found myself feeling insanely jealous, which can only mean that I feel something for you. This is actually a good thing. I hope that you can forgive me for appearing a little judgy and allow me to visit you this weekend at the castle. I want to make this work.  
From your fiancé, George._

She grabbed a piece of parchment and wrote a reply, quickly.

_George, please come to the castle as soon as your convenience allows so you can be assessed by McGonagall for visitation permission. Hermione._

She tied the short letter to Morgan's leg and instructed her to deliver it to George at his shop. She figured he would be in Hogsmeade by now.

Hermione left the 8th year dorms with a renewed sense of optimism. George said that he quite liked shagging her, which made her feel things in her lower abdomen that she hadn't felt in a while. Her heartbeat sped up and she recalled him writing that he feels something for her. She felt like a giddy schoolgirl, which, she supposed, she was.

As she strolled through the corridors, familiarising herself with the castle again, McGonagall called Hermione's attention.

"Miss Granger, you seem to have a visitor at the gates. Would you go and collect him and bring him to my office?" McGonagall asked.

Hermione thought that it could only be one person and she set off for the gates at speed.

When she arrived, she saw George standing there waiting for her. He was leaning against the post of the grand gates, wearing jeans and a WWW shirt. His long hair was combed back in the middle and she could see that he had had a haircut on the back and sides. He looked… sexy.

"That was fast" she said.

"You said to come, so I'm here" he shrugged.

"You couldn't get in?" she asked.

"Apparently, I'm not a student and haven't been granted permission, so I need to be accompanied onto the grounds" he said.

"Well…" she said, extending her hand through the invisible barrier, "right this way sir" she said as he took her hand.

Once they were both inside the gates, George pulled Hermione against him, encasing her in a hug that made her increased heart, beat even faster.

"I'm sorry I was a twat" he said.

"Merlin, don't be. I messed up. I shouldn't have put myself in a situation where I could be taken advantage of" she said.

"You think he took advantage of you?" he asked.

"Well, I was weak and vulnerable. I was only there to end things between us, but he sort of took advantage of my weakness. I mean… he didn't force me into anything, but I didn't initiate it" she said.

"I'll thump him if he tries it again" he said, holding Hermine's hand and walking with her to the castle.

"He won't. He's here with Lavender. He told her that I was the one who tried it on him, and he was weak. She warned me off him and everything. Told me that they eloped and got married" she said.

"He's a right idiot that brother of mine. For lying and for eloping. Mum's furious" he said.

"Well, I hope she sends him a howler, like in second year" she said.

"I'll get right onto that" he said as they walked in through the entrance hall and made their way to the stone gargoyle.

"Is it weird that holding your hand feels so natural?" Hermione asked,

"No" he replied, smiling at her.

"You smile a lot now. Dd you know?" she asked,

"I think you make me happy" he said.

"Well I'm glad. I think you make me happy too" she said as they climbed the stairs to the headmaster's office.

"Please enter" came the voice of McGonagall before any of them had even knocked.

"Headmaster, you wanted to see us?" Hermione asked.

"Please, sit down" McGonagall said.

"Long time no see Minnie" George said stretching his feet out in front himself and leaning back in his seat.

"Mr Weasley, it is a pleasure, as always" McGonagall said.

"How can I be of assistance, professor?" George asked.

"As per the Hogwarts Regular Visitors policy which has been implemented this semester, I need to assess your suitability to be present on school grounds" she said.

Hermione scoffed at this but quickly poised herself.

"Is there a problem, Miss Granger?" McGonagall asked.

"Well, I don't see a need to assess George. He is well known to yourself, the staff and the school. He fought for the school and for us, 5 months ago and sacrificed more than most" Hermione said.

"Right you are, however, the assessment much proceed" she said.

"Its ok, I'll submit to anything you like Minnie" George said smiling to Hermione.

McGonagall just rolled her eyes and took a piece of parchment out from a desk drawer.

"Mr Weasley, what is your current occupation?"

"Business franchise owner"

"Your working hours?"

"9am till 3pm, however I have work that I often complete after hours"

"And you have never been involved in any illegal activity?"

"No ma'am"

"Have you ever participated in acts of terror or caused fear among your peers for the sake of humour?"

"I've pulled the odd prank and there was the time we set the dragon off in the entrance hall. But it wasn't fear or terror, it was fun" he said.

"And what were the repercussions of said incident?"

"A professor was a little put off and I guess some people didn't get finished with their exams"

"So, Mr Weasley, what makes you think I don't believe you will perform a repeat of those events?"

"That was three years ago. A lot has changed since then" he said.

"Specifics, Mr Weasley"

"I'm older and wiser…" he began, leaning forward in his chair. "I have a business reputation to uphold. I am now a solitary unit as opposed to part of a pair. I have a reason to want to be here, professor, and I will not mess it up" he said.

Hermione looked on in admiration. She was fearful that he would lose his cool at having to bring up Fred's absence, however, he was stoic and calm in the face of McGonagall's questioning.

"Right you are" Professor McGonagall said with a sly smirk.

"So, do I pass?" he asked.

"Yes, Mr Weasley, of course you pass. I will never admit this as long as I live, but the spell work, charms and transfiguration Fred and yourself, created on that day made me proud to have taught you both. I continue to see excellence in you, young man and can only imagine the excellence that you and Miss Granger can accomplish together… Now the rules. You may come and go, using the device to tap in and out. As Miss Granger is aware, there is no curfew for 8th years and their visitors and the rules are quite relaxed, however, if you mess this up, Mr Weasley, you will be removed from the wards on the school grounds. Do I make myself clear?" she said.

"Professor, what about the floo?" Hermione asked.

"We are currently assessing how best to keep track of those who enter and exit via the floo network, but for now, the gates are the only way on or out of the school"

"Suits me" George answered.

"Right you are then. You're welcome to attend the castle for meals, and you may stay over night if you both consent" she said, standing and gesturing them both towards the door. "Now out with you and enjoy the weekend. Classes begin on Monday" McGonagall said.

Hermione didn't have to be told twice, she took George by the hand and led him out o the office and down the stone stairs.

"Well, that was positive" Hermione said.

"I wonder if Harry has to do the same thing?" he asked.

"Probably not" she said.

"Oh, but the policy says…" George said, imitating McGonagall's voice.

"I wouldn't do that. She might hear you" Hermione said looking around them both.

"Always the disciplinarian" George said.

They stopped on the second-floor stairway, near a statue and George pulled Hermione towards him.

"George?"

"There's something I've always wanted to do" he said, pulling her in an alcove that was hidden behind a tapestry behind the statue.

"Merlin, I had no idea this was here" Hermione said, looking around the spacious hole in the wall.

"Its new" he said, pressing himself closer to her.

"Well then…" she said.

George backed Hermione into the wall and pressed himself against her further.

"I really just want to kiss you right now" he said.

"So, kiss me" Hermione said, almost breathless. Merlin, the things he could make her feel with just his words.

~~OvO~~

Hermione and George entered the 8th year common room, somewhat dishevelled just before lunch time. They had spent the better part of the morning, snogging in the alcove. It was a new experience for Hermione, who, until now, always thought snogging was a passing moment and not something you could do for hours.

"This is the common room. As you can see, there are no houses, just the returnees, Ginny and Luna" Hermione said, showing him around.

"Where is everyone?" He asked, taking in the empty room.

"I guess they're in their rooms or out enjoying the sunshine" she said.

"Show me your room?" he asked.

"I'll show you, but I was serious when I said I was starving" she said.

"Ok, ok I'll behave" he said, as Hermione opened the door to her room and showed him inside. "Nice. You have a massive bed, your own desk and bookshelf and a private bathroom. Is this school or is this a 5-star resort?" he asked.

"Its quite something. Apparently, the castle just created it out of nowhere. There was a need and the castle provided" she said.

George ran his hand over the wallpapered wall and closed his eyes, taking in the magic of the room.

"It really is something" he said.

"It sure is" she responded.

"Put your hand here" he instructed, and placed Hermione's hand on the wall. "Do you feel that?" he asked.

"I don't feel anything" she said.

"Close your eyes" he said, and she did as he instructed.

With her eyes closed, she could feel a distant humming type vibration in the wall where her hand laid. She adjusted her palm and allowed herself to really give in to the humming and almost instantly, she could feel the magic inside the walls. She thought that she must have looked completely surprised because George spoke;

"Do you feel it?" he asked.

"I do" she said, suddenly feeling emotional.

"Its alive" he said.

"It really is. It incredible" she said, really believing for the first time that there was something more to the castle than just a 'sentient building'. "How did you ever learn this?" she asked.

"I don't really remember the how or the when, but one day, me and Fred were running from Filtch and had to hide for the longest time behind a tapestry and we just sort of felt it. It was like this powerful magical force. It felt like it was helping us, like it was on our side" he said, smiling with tears in his eyes.

"That's a great memory" she said.

"It really is" he said.

"I love hearing stories about you and Fred" she said.

"I have loads"

"But the ones no one knows about. Like this. The sappy stuff. The real stuff" she said.

"There's loads of those too" he said, removing his hand from the wall and tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

"Come on, we better go get some lunch" she said, taking his hand and leading him out of the room.

They walked down the corridor towards the entrance hall and Hermione stopped before they entered the room.

"How many girls have you shown that to?" she asked.

"One" he said.

"Who?"

"You"

She stood on her toes and kissed him on the cheek. He was surprising her every single day.

"You ready for this? We're going to be the talk of the school" she said.

"I'll carry you over the threshold if you like?" he offered.

She took his hand and laughed as she declined his kind offer.

They ate at the 8th year table with Ginny, Luna, Neville and Hannah.

"So you two are looking rather cosy" Hannah said.

"We're getting to know one another" Hermione said.

"So where have you been all morning?" Ginny asked, grinning from ear to ear.

"I had an assessment with McGonagall. Turns out, I'm suitable to be on Hogwarts grounds and have an open invitation to come and go whenever I please" George said.

"Is that really what they're allowing?" Pansy Parkinson asked, taking a seat at the far end of the table with Malfoy behind her.

"Yes, Pansy, they're allowing spouses to visit in order to fulfil the ministry's requirements" Hermione responded.

"So, what, you just come around, shag her, then leave?" Pansy asked.

"That about sums it up" George said, wrapping an arm around Hermione.

Hermione playfully slapped George's shoulder. "No, its not like that. If the ministry expects us to complete our NEWTS, get married and have children with someone of their choosing, they had to make allowances for us to at least get to know our partners" Hermione said.

"Why couldn't you just leave the school during ovulation? That would make more sense" Pansy said.

"Not to me it wouldn't" Hermione said.

"They're not forcing you to fall in love, they're forcing you to have children" Pansy said.

Hermione simply frowned and turned away from the girl who was clearly just trying to cause trouble.

"It seems like we're all getting off to an _awkward_ foot here" George said, emphasising the word 'awkward' with a smile to Hermione. "What we need is a night of breaking the ice" he said.

"Like a party?" Luna asked.

"Yes, like a party" Ginny said, thinking along the same lines as her older brother.

"I don't think I like this idea" Hermione said.

"Scared Granger?" Pansy asked.

"Absolutely not" she said.

"It's settled then. Everyone pull together your drinks because at 8pm we're throwing a party in the common room" George said.

~~OvO~~

At 7:45, Hermione, in consultation with her beauty basics book, put the finishing touches on her hair, turning it instantly from frizz to effortless looking waves.

She had on natural make up and wore tights with an oversized jumper that came off one shoulder. At 7:50, Ginny came barrelling into her room.

"Harry's at McGonagall's office now being assessed. As if he needed to, but…"

"Policy?"

"Yes. Stupid. But he's here" she said, smiling.

"George is bringing some drinks and things. Truly the worst idea in the history of Hogwarts. Drinking with the Slytherins" Hermione snorted.

"Inter-house unity Hermione. Don't forget about the bigger picture here" Ginny said.

"You don't care about that"

"No, I just want to know why the bloody hell Malfoy isn't in prison" Ginny said.

At 8pm, Hermione and Ginny entered the common room which had been decorated with ribbons and streamers. Pansy, Draco, Blaise and Theo were already occupying one of the sitting areas, having started on their drinks already. Pansy wore a short dress that accentuated her curves and gave her quite the bust. Hermione was a little jealous. Mostly because she didn't think to dress up, considering they were staying in.

"Granger, Weaslette, come and I'll pour you both a drink" Pansy said.

"How do I know you haven't poisoned it?" Hermione asked, half joking.

"Because, miss know it all, Draco already identified the properties of this particular brew and determined it safe" Pansy said, pouring a little in a glass and drinking it herself, before pouring a glass each or Hermione and Ginny.

"Well, cheers" Hermione said out loud, not expecting anyone to return her cheers. However, a roaring of cheers erupted from the group of Slytherins, who all stood and clinked glasses with Hermione.

"Granger, nice to see you again" Blaise said.

"And you Zabini" she said.

"Hermione, lovely as always" Theo said.

"What?" she asked.

He shrugged and sipped his drink.

"I told them to be nice" Pansy said.

"Why?" Ginny asked.

"Because. I think its important to build some bridges, make some friends" Pansy said.

As they were talking Ron and Lavender entered from Ron's room. They appeared to be quite close, which made Hermione want to vomit up the drink she had just finished.

"Ohhh, I bet this is awkward" Pansy said.

"No, not really" Hermione said, turning away and making her way over to the couple.

"Lavender, how are you?" Hermione asked.

"Great. Ron and I were just talking about where we want to live after school" she said.

"I bet that was a thrilling conversation" she said, noticing Ron's scowl. "How have you been, Ron?" she asked.

"Great. Never better" he said.

"Right, well, when's George getting here with the booze?" Ginny said.

"Should be soon" Hermione said.

As if on cue, the door to the outside opened and George appeared, carrying a backpack which was rattling.

"Ok folks, its time we get this party started" he said, taking out a record player, some records, several bottles of alcohol, some cards, a few snacks and some dice.

"Wow, you came prepared Weasley" Theo said, admiring the bottles.

"What can I say? It's all about breaking the ice" he said.

The initial awkwardness of the night began to fade after an hour of drinking and segregated groupings. The whole point of the event was going out the window, so Hermione took the initiative to bring everyone together.

"Ok, Ok, people, I think we ought to play some games" she called.

"Ohh. I love party games. What are we playing?" Pansy asked.

"Well, I don't know any, I thought someone would have an idea" she said.

"Of course. Its fine, leave it up to me" Pansy said, placing a finger on her chin in a motion that indicated she may have been deep in thought. "Ok, how about never have I ever?" she asked.

"Oh I don't think I'm drunk enough for that" Ginny said, pulling herself away from snogging Harry for a second.

"Got something to hide Weaslette?" Blaise asked.

"No way Zabini. I'm an open book" she said, sitting on the floor and pulling Harry down with her.

"Great, now we all sit in a circle and we can begin" Pansy said. Hermione said between Ginny and George and cringed when Ron and Lavender were sitting directly opposite.

"Pass me that empty bottle" she called to Luna, who was nearest the kitchenette.

"Ok, so someone spins the bottle, and whoever it lands on has to say 'Never have I ever…' then make something up. If you've done it, you drink" Pansy said.

"Seems simple enough" Hermione said.

Pansy spun the bottle which landed on Luna.

"Never have I ever had a crush on someone in this room" Luna said.

Hermione looked ever so briefly at Ron who was looking back at her and drank, along with Neville, Luna herself, Pansy, Theo, Ron, Lavender, Harry, Hannah, Ginny and George.

"Do we have to explain?" Neville asked.

"Not unless its really scandalous" Pansy said with a wicked grin.

Luna spun the bottle and it landed on Theo.

"Never have I ever used magic to permanently alter my appearance" he said.

Hermione thought about this and drank. She was surprised to see Pansy, Hannah and Lavender drink as well.

"I was mauled by a werewolf 5 months ago" Lavender said shrugging.

"Go girl, you look fantastic" Pansy said. Hermione noticed Malfoy cringe beside her. Was he disagreeing? Her didn't particularly like Lavender, but Lavender had come very far in her recovery.

"Thank you Pansy" Lavender said.

Theo spun the bottle and it landed on Pansy.

"Right… a good one. Never have I ever slept with anyone in this room" she said, smiling.

Hermione raised her glass and took a swig, lowered it and took another. She figured she'd give it two drinks for two people. Why lie? Ron, Lavender, Draco, Pansy, Ginny, Harry and Blaise all took a drink. Pansy took two.

Pansy spun the bottle and it landed on George.

"Never have I ever been horrible to someone I was jealous of" he said.

Hermione drank, as did Pansy and Malfoy. Theo thought for a moment then had a drink. Luna looked around horrified, unable to comprehend having a single nasty thought formulate in her ever kind mind.

Hermione felt herself becoming more and more intoxicated. The bottle spun a few more times and there were some odd questions. Some she drank for and some she didn't. Every time she looked to Malfoy, he sat emotionless and appeared completely disinterested in the goings on around him.

The bottle spun back around to Pansy before Hermione got to have a turn.

"Never have I ever shagged two people from the same family" Pansy said, looking directly at Hermione.

Hermione looked around the room, making eye contact with Ron briefly before scowling at Pansy. She rolled her eyes and drank. There was an audible gasp.

"So who was better?" Pansy asked, having just taken her own drink.

Hermione was slightly embarrassed, "I'm not going to dignify that with an answer, Pansy" she said, looking around the room and noticing Ron's face grow red.

"Later?" Pansy asked Hermione, quietly. Hermione simply scowled in her direction.

The bottle landed on Hermione, who thought she had a question ready, however, as soon as it was on her, she had an overwhelming desire to put one person in their place.

"Never have I ever… watched on like a coward as someone was tortured in their house" she said, looking directly at Malfoy.

He looked directly back at her and drank, draining his full glass.

Without the bottle spinning, Malfoy took a full bottle from beside him, placed it in front of his crossed legs, and spoke;

"Never have I ever watched someone be killed" he drank, along with anyone else.

"Never have I ever seen an innocent woman be eaten by a snake" he drank alone.

"Never have I ever, taken the dark mark to save my family from being killed" he drank alone.

"Never have I ever watched someone be tortured and felt desperate to do something but been too cowardly to act, afraid id be next" he drank.

"Never have I ever been forced to marry someone I didn't choose" he said finally, and drank, along with Hermione, Ron, Hannah, Blaise, Theo and George.

"You didn't choose me?" Pansy asked Draco.

"I didn't want to get married to anybody" he said.

"I thought it was my turn to spin?" Hermione said, breaking a silent tension that had built.

Pansy waved her hand, gesturing for her to spin. It landed on Harry.

"Never have I ever forgiven someone who did all those horrible things" he said, looking directly at Malfoy as he took a drink. Hermione looked on in shock and almost without thinking, raised her glass and drank. The resulting look on Malfoy's face was a mixture between horror, relief and confusion, as one by one, the people in the circle drank. All except for Ron and Malfoy himself.

"You can forgive yourself" Hermione said.

"Oh Granger if only it was that simple" he said not looking at her.

"Enough of that, now I think its time to dance" George said, standing and pulling Hemione to her feet.

Most of the rest of them stood and moved around the room, Pansy immediately making her way to Hermione for the goss.

"This is my queue to go and find conversation elsewhere" George said, kissing Hermione on the cheek.

"Oh my gods you must tell me. I mean, I'm not the Weasleys biggest fan, but give me all the goss. Which one was better?" she asked, handing Hermione another drink.

"Look Pansy, I'd love to tell you all about it but I'm not one to talk like that" she said, looking around the room.

"Come on, I won't tell anyone" Pansy said.

Hermione rolled her eyes and made sure no one could hear.

"All I'll tell you is that George was better by far, but Ron and I were only together a few times. I assume George has had loads of practice" she said, sipping on her drink.

"Well, I can tell you that Draco is loads better than Blaise. Salazar, the things that man can do with his hands" she said.

"George is more of a tongue man" Hermione said.

"Merlin" Pansy said. "What about Ron?"

"Ron would benefit from a book on foreplay and delayed gratification" she said. "That's seriously all I'm going to say" she said.

"Fine, fine" Pansy said, drinking.

Hermione stood there for a moment before shrugging and turning to walk away. She chatted with Ginny for a moment before finding herself deep in conversation with Theo about Ancient Runes and their application in complex transfiguration.

Most of the rest of the night was a blur, however, Hermione found that she had at least made small talk with everyone who resided in the 8th year dorm.

Overall, the night was a success and Hermione actually enjoyed herself.

She collapsed onto her bed at 3am, while George slept on the couch in the common room, despite Hermione's permission to share her bed.

* * *

**AN- Thinking of a time jump. Only a few weeks, just to cover the weddings etc. Any objections? I w****ill**** be writing loads over the next few days. These last 2 chapters were written in 2 days, so i hope to get more done soon. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the delay in uploading. I know i said i'd be adding chapters every day or so, but my household has been crazy this week and i have been in a pretty lousy state of mind. Getting there though. Onwards and upwards. **

**This chapter contains sex. Yep, just letting you know. As i said before, sex is a natural act between two consenting adults, such as these two lovers below. If you have an issue with it, please, do not let me know, just close the tab or the app and never look at this story again. There will be more. I can assure you :-) **

* * *

~~OvO~~

The first weeks of Hogwarts flew by in a whirlwind of activity. Classes began with high intensity and didn't let up at all. Despite only having four classes, they were brutally exhausting. Charms and transfiguration weren't proving to be very difficult, as she had had to learn a lot during the war years, however the amount of homework that was expected of them barely left time for the requirements of her relationship with George. Potions and the new life skills class was causing Hermione so much grief that she contemplated giving up at least once per day. Every time she almost lost it, George would come to her rescue. He would come to the castle most days and play with her curls while she studied. She found that, just his presence was calming to her and she soon found them developing quite a strong bond. She wouldn't say that she was in love with him, although she did love the things he could do to her in the bedroom. George would always make sure Hermione was satisfied, even if he wasn't. For George, it wasn't about him, it was about her. For Hermione, she was quickly discovering that the best solution for stress and headaches, was multiple orgasms.

Things between herself and Ron were still awkward. She tried to avoid him, and him her, at all costs, despite agreeing to attempt to rebuild the friendship they had for so many years before they were anything else. It wasn't working. Hermione still felt something inside when she saw him in class, when he looked her way briefly or when she saw Lavender wrapped around his arm like a tattoo. She tried not to, she tried to bury it and for a while, she did. Then one day, she was running late for class after having slept in and Ron brought her some breakfast to class. Such as small gesture was enough for Hermione to remember how much they cared about each other. It affected her like a bucket of cold water had been thrown over her.

She became standoffish towards George for a few days after that, however, whenever she saw Ron with Lavender, she was brought back down to earth with a resounding crash, sending her spiralling into a draining state of confusion. George was amazing, remaining his reliable self throughout Hermione's silence and withdrawal, however, Hermione would often tell him not to bother coming to the castle. It hurt her to hurt hm as much as it was hurting her to want both George and Ron at the same time. For the first time, Hermione skipped some classes and spent a few days in bed, trying to figure out why her heart and head were completely at odds with each other.

After being dragged out of her depression spiral by the ever perceptive Ginny, the two witches coordinated with McGonagall to host a Hogwarts reception for those students who had returned to school. After much debate, all of the couples, except Ron and Lavender who Hermione still couldn't believe eloped, decided to get married on the same day, on the 11th of December. Ginny and Harry had initially began planning a garden wedding at the Burrow, but the thought of getting married alongside their best friends was enough for Harry and Ginny to join the Hogwarts group.

Much to Hermione's disbelief, she quickly struck an easy friendship with Pansy Parkinson and by extension, was civil with Malfoy. After his declarations at the ice breaker party, Hermione had come to understand a different side to the pureblood prince who had bullied her since their first year.

It was a Sunday in late November when Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Pansy were being fitted for their wedding gowns in an empty Hogwarts classroom by a very well-known robes designer.

"I don't want an entirely traditional muggle gown, but I would like there to be quite a strong muggle influence" Hermione said as she stood on a small podium while the French woman measured her and wrapped various white silks over her body.

Ginny opted for a black dress, Pansy chose white and Luna chose the brightest yellow Hermione had ever seen, but somehow, it suited her. It was several hours before they finished being measured and had their gowns designed and by the end they all had the perfect gowns designed to suit them perfectly.

On the morning of Friday the 11th December, Hermione woke feeling significantly less anxious than she thought she would. She attended classes as usual and at 2pm, she left her Life Skills class early to begin getting ready.

Pansy helped Hermione with her har and make up and Ginny assisted her into her dress. The women had formed a bond that Hermione felt would last a lifetime. The hair and make up charms that she so desperately wanted to have learnt throughout the years had been gifted to her by Pansy in a book that Pansy had especially made for Hermione. The gesture was incredibly personal and had it not been for their makeup, the women would have cried in each other's arms.

They adorned black cloaks to hide their dresses before flooing in a specially set up floo network to avoid getting their clothes dirty and arrived at the ministry with plenty of time.

Hermione stood with her friends in the bridal area of the ministry waiting to be called for the group ceremony to begin. She had always envisioned her wedding day and normally, what she saw, was herself and her parents, waiting anxiously in a dressing room while their family and friends gathered nearby. She always envisioned her groom waiting at the end of a long isle and herself, walking towards him with sheer happiness radiating from her body as her dad held her firmly to stop her falling.

Reality was much different. At exactly 5pm, a ministry official beckoned the brides through a door, and they walked down a short corridor to the same large room where they attended the engagement dinner. They hung their cloaks on a hook before walking down two side isles to where their grooms sat on chairs, waiting for them to take their places beside them.

Hermione's heels clicked on the floor as she walked, along with the majority of the brides, and she felt herself grow anxious at the people who were now staring. The room was occupied by 10 couples and each couple had 2 guests. Molly and Arthur sat in the front row of the guest seating arrangement, a deal that Hermione had made with Kinglsey. If they were to be marrying off 4 of their children this year before they were ready, Molly and Arthur certainly deserved front row seats to every event.

Hermione found George quickly and sat beside him. As she did, he leant towards her and kissed her on the cheek.

"You look stunning" he said.

"You don't scrub up too bad yourself" she returned the compliment, checking out his white muggle type suit. It was perfect.

"Hermione… I…" George began, but before he could continue, Kingsley began the ceremony.

He gave a speech about the benefits of aiding with the wizarding population and discussed the rewards that would be offered to those who committed to their marriages and to those who produced children quickly.

Hermione anticipated that the next generation of witches and wizards would be, by far, the most spoilt, entitled generation, due to the fact that they would be seen as 'saving' wizarding kind.

"Please stand as you recite your vows" Kingsley said, pulling Hermione from her thoughts. "Repeat after me… I, say your name…"

"I, Hermione Granger…"

"take you, say your spouse's name…"

"take you, George Weasley…"

"to be my spouse…"

"to be my spouse…"

"and these are the things that I promise you…"

"and these are the things that I promise you…"

Kingsley then instructed them to complete their vows, using ones that they had written themselves. Hermione was intrigued, the day they received their wedding instructions and she was advised that she could write her own vows. She hadn't expected to and contemplated for days whether or not she would just use the ones the ministry provided for those who simply didn't want to. She quickly reminded herself of who she was and wrote vows of her own.

"I promise to honour you as my husband, to care for you, to grow with you, in age, wisdom, passion, courage and love. I swear that I will value you and respect you in everything I do as my equal and in sickness and health, until the day that we part in death, these are my vows to you" she said.

George swallowed hard as she spoke, and she felt nervous as she waited for him to begin.

"I promise to you, Hermione Granger, that I will cherish everyday as your husband and endeavour to be the man you deserve. I vow to gain your trust and your love and to hold onto these with everything that I have. I will respect you as my wife, as my partner and as the mother of our children. You have freed me from a life of pain and for that, I will defend you, honour you and be faithful to you and only you. I will love you always, as I do now, and I will honour you for all of the days of my life. These are the promises I make to you" George finished with concern on his face.

Hermione caught his declaration of love in his vows, however, she had little time to consider it, as Kingsley spoke once again.

"Please exchange rings and hold hands" he said. The group obeyed.

"It brings me great pleasure to announce you, married for life" he said, waving his wand in front of himself. Golden bands appeared to erupt from their wedding bands and wrap around their hands and their wrists, as though binding them together. It was not something Hermione had expected; however, she didn't expect anything less. Kingsley had bonded each couple magically. As the bands wrapped strongly around their hands and wrists, Hermione felt a warmth come over her, starting in her hands and arms and travelling through her entire body. She looked to George and saw that he was calm and collected, staring back at her with a genuinely happy smile on his face. The feeling of warmth continued, and she looked around wondering if anyone else was feeling the same. Many people seemed equally as confused, however, others, like Pansy and Malfoy, looked non-perplexed.

"It's ok, it's the magical bond" George whispered.

"The what?"

"That feeling. The warmth? It's the magical bond. It bonds people's magic. Its ancient magic and I didn't think he'd actually do it, but there you have it" George said, as the warmth stopped at her toes.

"Grooms, you are now free to kiss your brides. Good luck and best wishes to you all" Kingsley said as he stepped off the stage.

George pulled Hermione to him and pressed his lips against hers, softly. The warmth she felt a moment ago, returned and settled somewhere deep in her stomach. As they parted, the confusion she was feeling was beginning to dissipate, replaced by an overwhelming urge to kiss George some more. She looked into his eyes and saw what she could only imagine was the same thing. In her peripheral vision, she saw other couples kissing with extra enthusiasm, clearly seeming to be affected in much the same way.

"What is going on?" she asked.

"Did you not read any of the books the ministry gave you? This is the bond" he said, shaking his head with a smile.

"Sorry, I've been a little preoccupied cramming school into my already overused brain" she said.

"The marriage bond is supposed to urge us to consummate the marriage as quickly as possible. Ancient magic, but powerful" George said.

"Quite"

"Do you want to get out of here?" He asked.

"I definitely do, but your parents are here and the other couples…" she said.

"The other couples want to shag senseless as much as we do right now" he said, leaning down and kissing her once again.

"Ok. Ok, we'll go say a quick hello to your parents and then we'll go" she said.

"Very quick?" he asked.

"As quick as humanly possible" she said, feeling an unrelenting desire to push George down on the nearest hard surface and straddle him just to have a little relief.

They found his parents in the crowd and exchanged their hellos.

"Mum, dad, glad you could make it" George said.

"Oh George, we wouldn't miss it" Molly said, pulling them both into a hug. "Hermione dear, I always knew you'd be part of our family somehow. Welcome, dear. Officially" Molly said, having let go of them both and then hugging Hermione separately.

"Thank you, Mrs Weasley," Hermione said.

"Nonsense, you call me Molly or mum, dear" Molly said.

"I will do that, Molly" she said.

"Well, mum, dad, we best be getting ready for the reception" George said, pulling Hermione towards him, causing her cheeks to flush.

"Oh Merlin, I know that feeling. Don't put it off dears, it will become too painful to bear" Molly said, causing Hermione's face to grow redder than it already felt.

"Right you are mother dear" George said, taking Hermione by the hand and following another two couples out the door and towards the apparition point.

"This feeling is insane. Its like I've been knocked over the head by a gallon of lust potion" Hermione said.

"Its really just me, isn't it? I'm more irresistible as a husband than I am as a forced fiancé" he said with a forced smile.

"Holy cricket, we're married" Hermione said, suddenly realising that the events that unfolded over the last twenty minutes, meant that they were now married for life.

"Caught up quickly, didn't you?" he asked.

She turned to him and stopped them in their tracks.

"George, I'm happy to have been matched with you. No matter what else has happened or will happen or could have happened. I'm glad its you" she said, kissing him on the lips without having to stand on her toes. An advantage of heels.

George wrapped an arm around her small waist and pulled her body flush against his as they embraced in the middle of the ministry lobby. Onlookers gasped and verbalised their disgust however, Hermione was completely lost to the moment. She felt George's arousal hard against her and she almost begged him to take here there on the floor of the lobby. The overwhelming need to consummate their marriage was driving her need to get to the apparition point as quickly as possible, which she did. Holding George's hand, she apparated them to her house in Hampstead arriving in the small unwarded area in the garage.

She pulled George into the living room and quickly freed him of his jacket and made a mess of his shirt buttons after removing his tie. She unstrapped her shoes as George removed his pants.

"You'll have to help me with the dress" she said to him.

"Leave it on" he said, reaching up underneath it and tearing away her underwear.

"I liked those knickers" she said with a smile.

"I like what's under them" he said, pulling her up the stairs towards her bedroom.

They barely made it to her bed before Hermione was panting with desire. She had never felt anything like it. She had to have him and if she didn't, she genuinely felt as though she may explode.

She pushed him onto the bed before climbing on top, not hesitating and not bothering with foreplay, she filled herself with his hard erection. It was like scratching an itch that has been unreachable for the longest time. The feeling of relief and pleasure, of bliss and utter contentment filled her as she filled herself with every inch of him.

"Oh god" she called out, as relief washed over. She felt her walls tremble and he throbbed inside of her. She couldn't move, she was completely trapped inside her own internal pleasure. She thought she had reached orgasm, but when it didn't recede, she knew there was more. She opened her eyes a moment later and realised George was feeling exactly the same as she was. She began to move, and the more she did, the more the desire for _more_ intensified. With her dress pooled around them both, she ground her hips against his, searching for release. She was wet beyond belief and completely out of breath. She wandlessly banished her dress to the floor as her nails dug into his chest, searching for something to bring them to a climax. George pushed her gently, swapping their positions so he was on top and for that Hermione was grateful. While her motions were slow and calculated, his were hard, fast and rough. He knew exactly how she liked it and at this moment, he knew how she _needed_ it. She gripped the sheets of her bed in her hands and cried out as he relentlessly slammed into her, again and again. The pleasure was unlike anything she had ever experienced. Her body felt on the edge for what felt like forever, as he kissed her neck and grasped her breasts. His thumb brushed over her tight nipple and he pinched it slightly as he rammed himself into her. She was all pleasure, all sensation. She pulled his body flush against hers, feeling him grind against her clit, just the way she needed him to. The feeling sent her over the edge, and she called his name as she clawed at his back, screaming into the heavens as she rode out the orgasm that had been building since she was pronounced Mrs Weasley.

When Hermione opened her eyes, George was lying beside her, watching her.

"Hello there" he said.

"Hey" she answered.

"Welcome back" he said.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You've been out of it for a while" he said, brushing her hair off her face.

"A while, like a few minutes?" she asked, slowly sitting up.

"A while, like an hour" he said. "I was a little worried" he added.

"Merlin, the reception…" she said, trying to get up out of the bed.

"It's ok, it doesn't start for another 20 minutes" he said.

"Wow, ok good" she said as she laid back down.

"So… we're married" George said.

"Yes, we are" she replied.

"I meant what I said in my vows" he said.

"So did I"

"That part where I said I will love you"

"I heard"

"that I do love you" he said.

"I got that' she said.

"I do"

"I know you do" she said.

"But you don't feel the same?"

"I do, George, I do love you. I just think that it will take time for me to love you the way that you love me"

"That's good enough for me" he said, kissing her.

"Ok, enough of that, you just shagged me till I passed out, now I need a shower" she said, getting up from her bed and heading for the adjoining bathroom.

"Your room is different" he called through the door.

"I swapped with my parents"

"I like it"

"Well good, because its not MY room, its OUR room" she said. "Well, it will be, once I finish school, if you want it to be" she said.

"I will live anywhere in the whole world. I will live in a cave, as long as its with you" he said. The admission catching her by surprise. The intensity of Georges feelings towards her had grown so significantly over the last couple of weeks that she wasn't certain how she felt about it. Of course, they were now married, they were supposed to be in love, but she wasn't sure if she could ever really love him the way she wanted to, or the way that he wanted her to. The way she loved Ron. She would try. She had been trying. She would continue to try and love George, to fall in love with George everyday till the day she died.

~~OvO~~

"Ginny, Merlin, thank the Gods you're here" Hermione said, having arrived at their dorm just before the reception was due to begin.

"Did you get it too? The feeling? The crazy urge to shag like crazy people?" Ginny asked.

"Yes! What was that? That was full on" she said.

"Well, Harry and I, we didn't make it past the public toilets. I had to disapparate us to my bedroom at home" Ginny said.

"How did you do that? There are wards everywhere in the ministry and at your house" Hermione said, confused.

"I have no idea. But all I knew, was that if I didn't get us out of there, Harry would have shagged me senseless in the loos and the daily prophet would have had a fucking field day with it. Can you imagine it? 'The chosen one, chooses his bride and shags her in a toilet'?" Ginny said.

"I guess the marital urge was stronger than the wards" Hermione said.

"I'm guessing you satisfied the urge?" Ginny asked.

"Well, yeah, we went to my house. It was intense, let me tell you" she said.

"Its supposed to be. That golden band, it tied your magic together and the sex, it solidified it. You're properly bonded for life" Ginny said.

"Yeah, I know. Its pretty crazy" Hermione said feeling somewhat deflated.

"Don't"

"Don't what?"

"Don't you start doubting this?" Ginny said.

"Doubting what? Its done. I'm married"

"So is Ron"

"This isn't about Ron"

"Isn't it?"

"No"

"Why are you acting like your pet gerbil has just been eaten by a hippogriff?"

"I'm not"

"Yes, Hermione. I've known you since my first year here. We've shared a room forever. Something is wrong"

"Fine… I'll tell you" she said, relenting.

"George told me he loved me. Like, really loves me. He's in love with me"

"That's great"

"No, it's not"

"Why? He makes you happy, he's kind and considerate. He gives you stuff from the shop, Merlin, he's given you the deed to half the shop, and he wants to be with you. And guess what, you're married to him. What could be better?" she asked.

"I don't feel the same"

"Bullshit"

"I don't"

"You so do Hermione. You just don't know it"

"I don't feel it"

"Let me guess… Ron?"

"Well, sometimes. Its hard Ginny. You have no idea how hard it's been" Hermione said.

"You're right, I don't. But I've seen you around George. He's good for you. You're more than good for him. Don't waste this opportunity at real love with someone who is your intellectual equal, on the memory of someone you fell in love with in the midst of a war and can never truly match you for your intellect"

Hermione sat and sighed, placing her head in her hands.

"You're right Ginny, I know you're right" she said.

"Ok, well let's get out there and have the most amazing night of our lives"

Hermione plastered a fake smile across her face, stood up, took the hand of her best friend and left the dorm. They made their way out the exit to the grounds, down a stony path and towards a large enclosed marquee which had been erected for the occasion. It reminded Hermione of a circus tent. The grooms were milling around, outside of the entrance, apparently waiting for their brides.

As the two witches arrived, Hermione noticed the look on George's face. It was absolute happiness. He was more content than she had seen him in months, and it seemed to be all her doing.

Herry took Ginny by the arm and led her in through the flap of the marquee. Hermione herd an announcer's voice but couldn't make out the words.

"Ready to go in?" George asked.

"I think… can we just talk for a minute. Before things get crazy?" she asked.

"Absolutely" he said, leading her to a nearby stone bench seat.

"Take a seat, m'lady" he said gesturing grandly.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm not sorry we were matched. I think I have given off the impression that I'm less than pleased about what has transpired. I need you to know that I'm glad its you" she said.

At this, Georges face fell. He seemed to contemplate things for the longest time. It made Hermione nervous.

"We've been over this. Neither of us could have expected it. Merlin, you were supposed to be with my pesky little brother. I can never be to you what he was, but I can be something different. Better, if you let me. I won't try and make you love me Hermione. I can only be myself and hope that its enough, down the track" he said.

"Me and Ron would never have worked" she said.

"Doesn't mean you don't still love him"

"I love you both"

"But you're still in love with Ron"

"I don't know. Its hard. I see him with Lavender, and I get jealous, but when I'm with you, I don't want to be anywhere else".

George leant in and kissed her. It wasn't the passionate, I need you right now kiss, it was more of a slow, soft, I want you to know how much you mean to me, kiss. Hermione almost melted.

"See, and then you do something like that and makes me all mooshy inside" she said.

George just smiled and gave her a chaste kiss before standing.

"Shall we go and enjoy our wedding reception?" he asked.

"Merlin, we're married. Yes, absolutely" she said, taking his hand and standing.

At the entrance to the marquee, Hermione linked her hand through George's arm, and they walked in to the oversized, incredibly decorated room. The lights almost blinded Hermione at first, as it had become dark outside now. As she adjusted to the light in the room, an announcement was made.

"WITCHES AND WIZARDS, PLEASE WELCOME, MR AND MRS GEORGE AND HERMIONE WEASLEY"

There was sounds of applause from all around and some whistles. George spun Hermione around, took her by the waste and kissed her full on the lips. She hesitated for a second before kissing him back. There were more whistles and a stern looking McGonagall coughed nearby, raising her eyebrows and inclining her head in the direction of the Weasley table, where there were two empty seats.

They took their seats and Hermione drank a glass of wine all at once, looking around for who was refilling the glasses. When she didn't see anyone, she looked back in disappointment only to find her glass refilled.

"Self-refilling glasses. Wicked" George said.

"Handy" she said, sipping the next one more slowly.

Within minutes, all the couples were seated at their various family tables and the reception could begin.

"Ladies and gentlemen…" began the voice of McGonagall, "… I would like to thank you all for being in attendance today. I know it has been quite a difficult seven months, however, we are more than pleased to see smiles on the faces of each one of our couples here tonight. Could we please all raise a glass to our new couples and wish them the best of luck into the future?" she finished, raising a glass into the air along with everyone else.

Hermione looked at the tables all around the marquee and noticed that McGonagall was right. The couples were all seemingly happy. Even Ron and Lavender, who sat across from Hermione and George appeared happy. Hermione was hit with a pang of jealousy which she quickly forced away with another swig of her wine. The Weasley table seemed to be that largest, and for good reason. Hermione had jut married into the largest wizarding family in all of Britain.

Beside Hermione, Ginny and Harry were holding hands under the table, looking at each other as though no one else existed. Hermione hoped she would have that someday. She didn't even have that with Ron, but she hoped that with George, she could find it.

Molly and Arthur were absolutely beside themselves with happiness. Their children were all married now, except for Charlie who was too old for the law. Hermione thought it was absurd to include those so young and exclude those who were the perfect age to be having children. Charlie would be 26 the following day and, in Hermione's opinion, that made a far better set of circumstances for child rearing than those of them still in their teens. Hermione looked to Ginny and realised that she was still only 17. She wondered how the marriage law could have included Ginny, however, it wasn't something she could contemplate now. She bottled up her rage and packed it neatly away in a compartment in her mind and decided that she would approach Kingsley about it in time.

Dinner was served and was delicious as always. Hermione laughed and bantered with George in a manner that felt completely natural. Every now and then she would look up to see Ron looking in their direction. It bothered her incredibly, because whenever she noticed him looking at her, he'd look away quickly. Lavender hadn't seemed to notice, but Hermione was becoming fed up. She was at her wedding reception. She didn't need her ex watching her al the time.

After the meals were finished and the tables cleared, it was time for dancing. The married couples took their position on the dance floor and when the music began, they all began to dance. Hermione tool the hand of her husband and allowed him to lead her is a slow circle. Initially, she looked around and noticed the other couples. Neville and Luna were laughing and dancing like no one was watching. Pansy and Draco were doing some sort of fancy waltz which was clearly a pureblood traditional type of dance, Harry and Ginny were circling slowly in one another's arms, a few other couples revolved around the dance floor and Ron and Lavender, who hadn't been married this day, were swaying in time with the music. Hermione smiled at the thought of them all seeming happy and turned to smile at George.

"Whare are you smiling at so sincerely?" he asked her.

"Everyone actually looks happy" she said.

"They are, 'Mine"

"Mine?"

"Yeah, Hermione is too long. First order of husbandly duties. Shorten my wife's name" he said.

"I guess its sort of sweet. Now that I am _yours_" she said with a smirk, getting back into the dance.

"I have something I want to ask you" he said after almost a minute of silence.

"Oh, sounds serious. Shall we sit?" she asked with a smile.

"No. Lets stay here. I like this. I like being close to you like this" he said.

"You mean to tell me, that you enjoy being physical with me without sex?" she asked.

"Of course, I do. I'm actually a very affectionate person" George said.

"I'll do my best to remember" she said. "So what do you want to ask me, mister affectionate?" she asked.

"Move in with me" he said.

"That wasn't a question" she said.

"I suppose it wasn't" he said.

"Ok" she said.

"Ok what?" he asked.

"Ok, I'll move in with you" she said.

"You serious?" he asked, grinning like a happy teenager.

"We're married. I want to really give this a chance. It's not practical for you to come and go to and from the castle after work every day is getting to be too much" she said.

George smiled at her and captured her lips in his.

"I will make you happy Hermione. You've made me whole. In September, I was a hollow shell of a person, but the knowledge that I was to marry you made me want to be better for you. I didn't love you then like I do now, but I respected you and knew you deserved better. I'm not perfect but I promise that I will try to be, for you" he said.

"George, you are perfect. You already make me happy and the more time we spend together, the more I see the logic behind our pairing" she said.

"Merlin…" George said, looking into her eyes.

"It's a little intense, isn't it?" Hermione said.

"We're married" he said grinning.

"And all without any tricks or pranks" she said.

"So far" he said with a wink.

They danced for a few minutes more before other couples made their way to the dance floor. Pretty soon, the floor was crowded and there was not a lot of room to move.

"Do you mind if I cut in?" came the voice of Ron.

"Uh, I… Ron, do you think its appropriate?" Hermione asked as they stopped, eyes of the closest couples on them.

"I just want to talk. As friends" he said.

George stepped back allowing Ron to take his place.

"If you make her cry I'll flush your favourite toy down the toilet" George said.

"Not the first time" Ron retorted.

George looked at Lavender standing to the side of the dancefloor.

"Yes Ronnikens, but now your favourite toy is a five-foot six curvy blonde" George said, leaving Hermione stunned in Ron's arms and making his way to Lavender, asking her to dance in an elaborate bow that only George could pull off.

"He won't" Ron said.

"Wont what?" she asked.

"He won't hurt Lav"

"Lav?"

"Lavender" Ron said rolling his eyes, leading her in a slow dance.

"You happy?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, I think I am. You?" he asked.

"I think I will be" she said.

"You're not now?" he asked, glaring over in Georges direction.

"No, I mean, George is perfect. He's lovely to me and he makes me laugh. I hadn't laughed Ron. Before. It had been a long time. I just… Its still bizarre. I had envisioned something different for my life. Children at twenty. What was the ministry thinking?" she said.

"You can have children and still have all the things you wanted" Ron said.

"Sure Ron, I'll just strap the baby to my chest while I go off to work in the ministry". She said, rolling her eyes.

"Mum has offered. She's more than capable" he said.

"I'm aware. But I'm also aware that Fleur is now pregnant and it's only a matter time before not only I fall pregnant, but Lavender, Ginny and Penelope too. That's five children, given none of us has twins, all roughly the same age" she said.

"You've thought about this"

"I'm highly logical Ron. You know this about me. I've considered the logistics of how this will all play out" she said.

"I wish it was us" he said quietly.

"I… I did. Before" she whispered back leaning her head on his chest. It was a comfort she wasn't aware she needed.

The two of them stood there, swaying to the slow music for a short while, allowing the rest of the room to fall away.

"I'm sorry" he said.

"About what?" she asked.

"We should have run away" he said

"Don't be silly, we would have been caught, stripped of our magic and obliviated"

"Us? We defeated Voldemort. They would never have done that to us. I should have fought harder. Maybe this dress would have been for me" he said, looking down at her perfectly fitted dress.

"Its done Ron. We both accepted it. As we should. You're happy with Lavender. George is an amazing man. Clearly, me and you were never meant to be. We would have killed each other in a matter of weeks, and you know it" she said, pulling away from him.

"Everything ok here?" Harry asked, appearing out of nowhere.

"Fine, just having a dance with Mrs Weasley here" Ron said.

Hermione looked over to George who was in the midst of telling a story to a small crowd that had gathered. He was certainly charismatic when he was genuinely happy.

"Everything's ok. Just reminiscing" Hermione said.

"Great, Hermione, care to dance?" Harry asked.

"Love to. See you, Ron" she said, taking Harrys hand and moving with him and his two left feet.

"I'm a rotten dancer" he said.

"I know, but I don't mind" she said.

"Is everything ok there?" he asked.

"Just chatting about what could have been or would or probably would not have been" she said.

"This has been really had for you both, but I think it's wise to remember that there were loads of things you were matched against. You and George are so perfect. You probably don't even see it" he said.

"Oh, Harry, trust me, I see it. George is amazing. He really is" she said smiling.

"Are you falling in love with him?" Harry asked.

"I really hope so. He told me tonight he loves me. The depth of his feelings is quite frightening. But also, really exciting. I really want to feel the same, but I think I'm scared of it all falling apart" she said.

"I think its safe to say that won't happen Hermione. You're married. There is no way anything can break you up now" Harry said.

"So, you think its ok if I fall in love with him? It wouldn't be too soon?" she asked.

"Is that what you're worried about?" Harry asked.

"I still love Ron" she said.

"The same as before?"

"I don't know. I get jealous when I see Lavender all over him and something inside me twinges when he is near me… but.. I don't know, Harry. George gives me butterflies. And he is the perfect gentleman" she said.

"You can love two people at once. Your heart doesn't necessarily follow your head" he said. "But you have to choose. Choose to let George into your whole heart and that tiny part the Ron still occupies, let it go" he said.

"How did you become such an expert in all of this?" Hermione asked Harry.

"Ginny" he said.

"Ginny's a great witch" Hermione said.

"That she is" Harry said.

"Can I tell you something?" Harry asked.

"Please… Take these two Weasley men off my mind" she said.

"Ginny's pregnant" Harry whispered.

"Oh Merlin, that's incredible Harry. Are you happy?" she asked.

"I am. I really am. Its fast and its years sooner than we ever wanted but we're just so happy" he said.

"Harry… you're going to be a father" Hermione said, a huge smile playing across her face.

"Ginny wanted to ask you herself, but will you be godmother?" he asked.

"Of course" she said, bringing him into a hug, which wasn't a great feat, as they were dancing quite closely anyway.

"Your turn next" Harry said.

"Somehow I think it will be a while. I mean, its been three months. Not a hint of pregnancy. Not that I have been trying, in fact, I've been trying _not_ to" she said.

Harry's eyes narrowed, "Hermione, contraceptives are banned, you know that, right?" He asked.

"Oh of course, I mean, the timing. I've been avoiding George during the fertile days, that's all" she said.

"Well, good luck with that" Harry said.

"I think I need it. I'd like to finish school" she said.

Harry just shrugged then hugged her before heading back to the table. Hermione followed, feeling happier than before. She had danced with her two best friends, Harry and Ron. Things were different now, but she felt like, finally, everything would be ok. Her heart and her head were beginning to get on the same page.

~~OvO~~

* * *

**AN - **

**Bonding thing hey? Any thoughts? There is so much potential for soul and magical bonding. I was never a fan, but now i think its great. **

**Uploading this at 11:23pm on the 22nd Feb 2020. I will be turning 33 in 37 minutes. I am a true Pisces through and through. Not liking getting old. SIGHHH... Oh well, they say with age comes wisdom. I'm yet to discover whether they tell lies. **

**Anyway, hopefully i can get some more chapters out throughout the week. Not much else on. Keep following. **


	7. Chapter 7

**AN - **

**Thanks for the birthday messages. It was a pretty quiet one. **

**Even the greatest writers are the most tormented and challenged. I'm not saying that I am great, by any standards. Man, I wish I was then I could perhaps make some kind of career out of this, however, the torment comes with the territory. I have a lot going on at the moment and I am drowning my sorrows in binge watching The Good Wife and playing Theme Hospital. It is taking up most of my writing time, but i am trying to get to this whenever I can. I want to do this story justice and the scene that I envisioned when I thought up this ff is coming in the next chapter so I am hoping to get it done by this afternoon. **

**This chapter is basically all smut. If you don't like it, its worth reading the first half as it is pretty interesting. I wanted to write a really typical teenage party scene where there's some consentual partner swapping. Nothing OTT. **

**Enjoy.**

*****I have used a line from one of my favourite books - The Fault In Our Stars - in this chapter. Absolutely love it and think its relevant here. I initially left out the citation, however, upon receiving feedback, i have come to the understanding that it is more essential than i thought*****

* * *

~~OvO~~

After their wedding, things went back to normal pretty quickly. Hermione spent a few nights at the flat above the shop in Hogsmead and helped George decorate it so that it was suitable for them both. There wasn't much that needed altering, however, a few plants, some nice pictures and a place for her books was all that needed adding. The maroon and gold bed sheets were perfect, and the kitchen supplies were more than adequate.

"Its only for now" George said as they placed some pot plants around the living area.

"Its perfect" she said, standing beside George who had his arm around her.

"When are you going to bring your things over?" he asked her.

"Pansy wants to throw a leaving party before I go, so I guess, on Saturday after I've had a hangover potion or two" she said.

"A wild one then? Am I invited?" he asked.

"Of course you are. You're my husband. Where I go, you're invited" she said, wrapping her arms around his torso.

After spending the last few days with George, one on one she realised now, more than ever, that he was perfect. And she was perfect when she was with him. More and more, Hermione was falling in love with George. She felt it on the night of their wedding when he made unbelievably passionate love to her, worshipping her, kissing her, touching her, loving her. Hermione had never really placed too much consideration on sex, as an act of love. Her intellectual mind had always considered sex to be a physical act between two people. However, she was now realising that there was far more to it than comparing it to a game of singles tennis.

She had fallen in love the way that one falls asleep, slowly, then all at once.

She had loved George all these months, but now, it was like something changed instantly. She was _in love_ with him. She was in love with the way he loved her, with the way he worked so incredibly hard for his shop, with the way that he looked at her and smiled when he was talking to someone else, with the way that he could hold a conversation about philosophy and alchemy and arithmancy . The realisation had her floored. She wanted to tell him, but the idea of blurting it out scared her.

The week was a short one, with the newlyweds having had Monday and Tuesday off to enjoy their new marriages. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday classes were quick and before she knew it, it was Friday and she was getting ready with Ginny for the party.

"When are you going to tell people?" Hermione asked Ginny, who was busy pouring lemonade into an empty wine bottle in Hermione's room.

"Not sure, I think I'll leave it a few more weeks. I haven't even been sick. Not showing, no one would even know. I think I can keep it a secret for a while longer" she said.

"Well, I don't know if it's the food or if its just me being happy, but I'm finally putting weight back on. Anyone would think I was pregnant, not you" Hermione said, patting her stomach which had become less concave than before.

"Are you… I mean, have you been tested?" Ginny asked.

"I've been getting my period. I literally had it this week" she said.

"Well then… Better luck next time, hey" Ginny said, cheersing Hermione with her feux wine while Hermione clinked her glass of real wine with Ginny's.

"Or not. I'm keeping George away while I'm ovulating so that I don't get pregnant. I'm just not ready, Gin" Hermione said, winking at her sister in law.

Hermione waved her wand and before her eyes, her hair shortened to shoulder length.

"Oh my Godric, what have you done?" Ginny screamed, looking at Hermione's now very short hair.

"I read it in this book that Pansy gave me. Its quite something. I've been needing a change, so here it is" she said.

"But… Your hair…" Ginny said, still in shock.

"Does it look ok? Do you think George will like it?" Hermione asked, wondering if she had made a huge mistake.

"It looks great, but I'm in shock" Ginny said.

Hermione put some product on her hands and combed her fingers through her hair, leaving the ends touching her shoulders in chic waves.

She waved her wand over it again and cast the spell that would hold it in place.

"George will love it Hermione. He won't be able to keep his hands off you" Ginny said.

"Great. That's the look I was going for" she said as she added red lipstick to complete her make up.

"Ron will be here too" Ginny said, looking worried.

"Ron and I spoke at the wedding. Everything is fine between us. We are great friends; the past is in the past. He is happy with Lavender and I'm more than happy with George" Hermione said.

"As long as you know Ron will be eye fucking you like crazy tonight" Ginny said.

Hermione shrugged, "His problem, not mine" she said.

"Woah, where did this sudden confident woman come from?" Ginny asked.

"I guess I must have taken on some of George's traits when we married" she shrugged again.

"Right, well, I like it. It's a little scary, but I like it. Now, lets go get our party on. Remember, you're drinking for the three of us now, so don't go easy" Ginny said.

"Three?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, one…" she pointed to herself, "…two" she pointed to her belly, "…three" she pointed to Hermione.

"Right, well, shall we, Mrs Potter?"

"We shall, Mrs Weasley"

The witches entered the common room which had been decorated with a banner that changed with different farewell messages. It was currently displaying "GOODBYE MRS WEASLEY". Every now and then, it would flash "WEASLEY IS OUR KING" before flashing to something else. Hermione giggled at the reference to years gone by.

George was talking with Harry and Ron when Hermione and Ginny left Hermione's room and entered the common room. His chin hit the floor when he looked at her and he immediately halted his conversation, meeting her halfway between her and where he stood and took her in his arms.

"Merlin, wife, you look simply edible" he said in her ear before he kissed her neck.

"Why thank you. You look pretty fine yourself" she said. She wanted to tell him he looked absolutely fuckable but didn't feel like it was appropriate just now.

She cast a quick spell over her red lips to hold the lipstick in place before he kissed her. She allowed the public display of affection to continue for a little while before pulling away and joining in the festivities.

There was loads of drinking, a lot of Ginny pretending to be tipsy, much to Hermione's amusement, a fair bit of Ron and Lavender attempting to keep up with Hermione and George and a few really good conversations.

After everyone was sufficiently drunk, Pansy had another great idea for a game to play.

"Truth or dare" Pansy said.

"Oh good Godric, this will be interesting" Hermione said, taking a seat with George on her left. To her right sat Malfoy who still made her cringe, even after having apologised months ago.

Pansy took a small phial from a shelf nearby and placed it on the small table in the centre of the room. Hermione took a good look and even in her inebriated state, she could tell what it was.

"Veritaserum?" she asked.

"You know your potions Granger" Malfoy said.

"Its Weasley" George piped in from her other side.

Malfoy nodded.

"I'm actually quite smart. Did you not know?" she asked.

"We'll see" Malfoy said.

Pansy took an empty bottle, and much the same as last time with the 'never have I ever' game, she began by spinning it. The bottle landed on Neville.

"Neville, truth or dare"

"Truth" he said, and Pansy passed him a dropper.

"Place a drop of this on your tongue and it will last you about a minute… Hmm, let me think… Were you happy to be matched with Luna?" Pansy asked.

"Of course I was" he said, after having placed a drop of the liquid on his tongue.

"Aw, so sweet" Pansy said as Luna snuggled up to Neville.

Neville spun the bottle and it landed on Blaise.

"Blaise truth of dare"

"Truth"

"Is it true, that Hannah refused to consummate the marriage with you and ran off with someone else?" Neville asked, asking a question that everyone had been dying to ask for days.

Blaise smiled as he dropped some veritaserum on his tongue.

"It is true that she refused, initially, to consummate, however, upon running off, she realised that she had some things that needed taking care of. And I was able to assist her with that. She is currently away helping her mother recover from the stress of the wedding" Blaise said.

"Ok, so who else was effected by that consummation spell?" Ginny asked.

A few people around the circle nodded.

"I'm concerned about those who were not happy with their matches. How did they manage it?" Hermione asked.

"Hannah hates me. Refuses to even get to know me, but when it came to the marriage, she was all over me. Turns out, I like to be slapped during sex. Who knew?" Blaise said.

"Bit rude to impose a sex clause to the wedding charms" Hermione said.

"Nonsense, its been happening for centuries. Its just that no one talks about it. How do you think half the pureblood children were conceived? The arranged marriages between the girls in the first marriage law and the older men who created the law in order to provide them with young virgin brides" Malfoy was saying.

"So that reaction, you're saying that happened to fourteen-year-old girls who were married off to 20 something year old men?" Hermione asked, disgusted.

"No, I'm saying that they matched fourteen-year-old girls with men in their thirties. There isn't anything written in the law, but that's how it was created. The ministry was full of men. They created the laws, sealed them somehow and laughed their asses off to the grave" Malfoy continued.

"That's barbaric" she said.

"That's pureblood idiocy" Ron said.

"Good thing no one here adheres to that tripe anymore" Theo said, shutting down that line of conversation.

Blaise spun the bottle and after landing on Harry and Harry, choosing truth, was asked, "Did you really have sex with Cho Chang in the room of requirement?"

"Godric no" Harry said.

"That's not what she's saying" Blaise said.

"That's completely false. Absolutely not true. We kissed for about half a second and she stopped because she was upset about Cedric" Harry said, the truth serum still having its full effect.

"Come on Harry, be honest" Ron said.

"I am, Ron" he said .

"Cho cried while she kissed Harry" Hermione told the group.

"Alright, she was more than upset. But she wasn't crying when I kissed her. Not till after" he said.

"Stop digging your hole babe" Ginny said.

Harry grimaced, looking to his wife who was all smiles, before spinning the bottle. It landed on Hermione.

"Hermione, truth or dare" Harry asked.

"Truth" she said, taking the drop of veritaserum.

"Are you in love with your husband?" he asked. She narrowed her eyes at Harry and Ginny and shook her head, letting out a sigh.

"Yes, I am" she said, hearing George beside her take in a deep breath. She refused to look at Ron, however, his anger from across the circle was palpable.

"Really?" George asked her, filling the silence that had overcome the room.

"Well, yes. Of course. I'm under veritaserum, I can't lie George" she said.

"Days ago you said you weren't sure"

"And that was then" she said.

"Damn woman" George said, throwing himself at her full force, sending her flying back in her chair. He was kissing her, and she was kissing him right back.

"Aright alright… now that truth of dare has gone out the window, Hermione, who's the better kisser, Ron or George?" Pansy asked.

"George… Damn it, I thought the veritaserum had worn off. No more. I refuse to answer" she said.

"Who's better in bed" Pansy asked.

Hermione closed her eyes "George" she said, not opening them.

"Who's got the bigger….." she began.

"I think that's enough, Pansy" Malfoy said.

"What? I'm just having fun" she said in a girly whiny voice. "Fine, lets play spin the bottle then" she suggested.

"We're all married" Neville said.

"So? Spin the bottle doesn't mean anything. Its just kissing. It's not like we're spinning the bottle and fucking the person it lands on" Pansy said.

"Yeah, come on, I want to see if Hermione is right" Pansy said, looking over to George who was grinning proudly, having removed himself from his wife. Ron, however, was livid.

"Fine. But anyone can refuse" Harry said.

"If you refuse, you spill a truth" Pansy said.

"Truth or kiss?" Luna asked.

"Yeah. Great game" Pansy said. "I'll go first" she said, spinning the bottle in the middle of the table that stood in the centre of the circle. It came to a stop, point to Blaise.

"Been there, done that" she said as she stood and kissed Blaise with tongue.

Blaise sat back down chuckling to himself "you've gained some skill since fifth year Pans" he said.

"Well, I learn from the best" she said, elbowing Draco in the ribs, who was sitting with his hands behind his head. Hermione wondered how she was going to feel when the bottle landed on George and she had to watch him kiss someone. She wouldn't cope with it.

The bottle spun around and around and she watched as Luna kissed Theo, Ginny kissed Neville and Ron kissed Hannah. It would only have been a matter of time before it landed on her. As Ron spun it, she watched the tip slow down more and more, she counted the people in the circle and knew before it stopped that it would point to her.

The last thing she wanted or needed was to have to kiss her ex in front of everyone.

"Oh, this is interesting. Hermione" Pansy asked.

"Can I take a truth?" she asked.

Pansy looked to Ron who shrugged. Lavender was furious.

"Ok Hermione, who has the bigger….." Pansy said, before Hermione cut her off.

"Fine. I'll do it. Ronald let's just get it over with" she said.

"Gee, Hermione, make it seem like a punishment" Ron said.

Hermione looked to George who shrugged. Part of the game, she told herself as she leant towards her ex.

His lips were not smooth like Georges, his face was also prickly. He held her by the shoulder as he kissed her with a small peck.

"Nope, not good enough. Haven't you been watching? Tongue or truth" Pansy said.

Hermione rolled her eyes and moved in for a kiss. She tried her hardest to avoid thinking too much into it. She tried to supress the memories of when they used to kiss like this under the trees in the orchid and by the lake and on the beach in Australia. She pulled away and her eyes locked with Ron's. He appeared to be thinking much the same as she was, given that his eyes were quite wet with emotion.

"Was that to your liking, Pansy?" Hermione said, not looking at anyone when she sat down.

"Yes, thank you. Now spin" Pansy said. Hermione hadn't realised that she would have to now kiss someone else. She hoped it would land on George, but as luck had it, the bottle slowed and came to a stop between herself and Pansy, pointing directly to Malfoy.

"Oh Merlin" she groaned.

"Come on Granger" he said, getting up. "Shall we get this over and done with?" He asked, placing his drink down on the table.

Hermione looked to George who, once again, shrugged.

She stood but didn't have to go far as Malfoy was right beside her. She pressed her lips against his and was surprised to find that they were soft and his face was free of stubble. His tongue touched her lips requesting to enter. She allowed it, as it was part if the rules and kissed him back, briefly. If she wasn't married, engaged, partnered or standing in a room full of people, she'd probably like this. He was quite the kisser, even though he probably wasn't trying. She pulled away quickly and sat back down, sighing and looking to her husband for his response.

"Don't worry my love, I'll make you forget all about them in a minute" George said

Draco spun and the bottle landed on Lavender, who eagerly stood and kissed Malfoy.

"Hmm, Hermione you didn't tell me the Slytherin could kiss" Lavender said after they parted.

"I suppose he's ok" Hermione said, earning herself a scoff from Pansy and Malfoy himself.

Lavender happily spun the bottle, which slowed and stopped on George.

George looked to Hermione, who cringed as she nodded to him to just do it. George stood and moved in front of Lavender. He towered over her, which gave him control over the situation.

He pressed his lips against hers and Hermione watched as her tongue greedily searched out his. She was vile and aggressive as she grabbed the back of his head to kiss him. It lasted only a few seconds, but even that was too long for Hermione.

George returned to his seat moments later and took a long swig from his drink.

"That bad was it?" Hermione asked.

"I just wanted to wash the taste o her out of my mouth before I do this" he said, as he took her by the chin and kissed her passionately.

"Alright, I think this game is over" Luna said, as George and Hermione continued to make out.

By now, Pansy and Malfoy were kissing and Ron and Lavender were arguing in the kitchen area of the common room. Hermione was enthralled with how George was making her feel that she tuned everyone out. That was, until Lavender was standing beside them.

"Hermione. Is it true?" she demanded.

Hermione pulled herself away from George.

"Is what true?" Hermione asked, standing up to her full height.

"You enjoyed that, didn't you?" she asked.

"Yes, I did enjoy _that_" she said, indicating to George who was sitting on his chair still.

"Don't play dumb with me, princess, you enjoyed kissing my husband, didn't you?" Lavender accused.

"Play dumb? I'm sorry, I can't play any other way around you Lavender, or you might not understand. Ron and I have history. That kiss reminded me of things, I'm not going to lie, but I am happy with George now. I didn't enjoy kissing Ron at all because I worked hard to move on from him… Ron and I are done. We are friends" Hermione said, slightly yelling at the other girl.

"You're just trying to get back at me for sixth year. Admit it" Lavender said.

"Sixth year? You mean when Ron and I _weren't_ dating and you threw yourself at him at every opportunity in an attempt to make me jealous? And he still left you for me in the end?" Hermione asked with a scoff.

Lavender looked from Hermione to Ron and stormed off to their room. Hermione just laughed and sat back on her chair with her drink in her hand.

"What a night, hey?" Pansy said.

"Oh yeah, great night. Was forced to reveal things about my life that no one had a right to know about then I kissed my childhood bully and my ex fiancé all within the space of fifteen minutes. I'd say that was a night indeed" Hermione said.

The room was silent and everyone was looking to Hermione.

"Ex fiancé?" George asked.

"What?" Hermione asked, not seeming to have noticed what she said.

"We were engaged. Just after the marriage law was announced, I asked Hermione to marry me and she said yes. Just in case it matched us. I didn't want her to think that I was being forced to marry her" Ron said.

"We were engaged for about a day" she said.

"No it was longer than that. We never broke it off. You came to me the day after the engagement ball to say goodbye and… well, we said our goodbyes and broke it off then" Ron said. Hermione noticed the look in his eyes. He was trying to trap her, to let George know that they slept together that day.

"Oh, Ronnikins, you mean the day Hermione slept with me in the morning, twice, after sleeping with me the night before, then came to you to do the honourable thing and you gave her three minutes of your time and didn't even get her off?" George said.

Ron's face went red and he froze to the spot.

"Hermione… so scandalous" Pansy said.

"Yeah well…" Hermione said with a shrug of her shoulders. She had gone beyond the place where she cared.

"Come on Hermione" George said as he stood and took her by the hand, leading her to her room.

"Thanks for the party Pans" Hermione said, shutting the door behind herself and George.

Hermione took off her shoes and unzipped her dress, ready to get into her pyjamas.

"You didn't tell me you and Ron were engaged" George said.

"It didn't matter" she said.

"It does to me. How am I supposed to feel knowing that the ring that was placed on your finger was put on there while another still had ownership?" he asked.

"Ownership? I'm not a car, George" she said, pulling on her pyjamas as George removed his pants and got into her bed.

"You know what I mean. You and Ron hadn't thought to even break it off before the ball?" he asked.

"He wasn't speaking to me. I flood home to avoid everyone and spent the week in bed best trying to figure out how to kill myself. I didn't want to hurt Ron and I didn't want to disappoint you. I didn't plan on getting to this point. I was ready to end it all. After the ball, I was done" she said, tears in her eyes.

"Right…" George said, getting out of the bed and pulling his pants back on. "…just another person to die this year, right?" he asked, storming out of her bedroom, through the common room and into the night air.

Hermione stood stunned in her room, uncertain about what just happened.

Ginny came in and shut the door behind her, having seen George run off.

"What was that all about?" she asked.

"He's upset that I didn't tell hm Ron and I get engaged. It's not like I had a ring or anything. Ron made me an oversized circle out of tree vines. That's all" she said.

"Its not like George to get jealous over something that happened in the past. He's not like that Hermione" Ginny said.

"Well, I told him that I never planned to get to this point. I was going to end it all" she said.

"End it all? Like, kill yourself?" Ginny asked.

"Ginny… I was in love with Ron. I had been in a war. I was and still am having nightmares that I wake up screaming from. At that point, I couldn't think of anything worse than being torn away from the person I loved and who loved me back. I have no family, I have no one. I thought Ron was it and for him to be taken from me against our will, I was not ready for that" Hermione said.

"And you told George this?" Ginny asked.

"Basically"

"He just lost the person he cared about the most. He didn't smile, talk, eat, drink laugh, or so much of anything until he got matched with you. I see now that it was probably all the sex too, but he genuinely loves you, Hermione. He's madly in love with you. To hear you say that you would remove yourself from his existence, purely because you were matched with him… I don't know how I'd take that, let alone someone who is in his condition" Ginny said.

"Godric. Ginny you're right" Hermione said, slipping her shoes on.

Hermione ran out the door and followed George's footsteps through the powered snow that had fallen.

He was apparently fast, because by the time she got to the gates, he was gone. His footprints stopped. Shed apparated to the flat above the shop in Hogsmeade and stood in the living room with tears in her eyes.

"George?" she called.

"Come to tell me more about how you're going to kill yourself?" He asked.

"That's not… I'm not… I wouldn't do that. I just wanted to explain"

"Go ahead, I'm listening" he said.

"It wasn't because of you. And I wouldn't have gone through with it. Especially after realising how much I cared about you and how you could make me feel" she said, taking his hand and lacing it on her chest. "George, I love you. I'm in love with you. It has taken me a while to see it, but its true. I couldn't imagine my life without you now. You're it for me. Do you not see that?" she asked.

He looked to her and brushed a tear away from the corner of her eye with his thumb.

"I love you too, so so much" he said, kissing her lips softly.

She took this as a sign that George was ok. That he would be ok. She unbuttoned his shirt slowly and moved to his pants, stopping for a moment so he could take her shirt off over her head. The slow soft kisses began morphing into needy, passionate kissed fuelled by desire.

"Fred would be laughing so hard at me right now" he said.

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"I've turned into a sap" he said.

"That's fine. He would understand" she said.

"He would, because he was into you last year" George said.

At this, Hermione pulled away.

"What?" she asked.

"I'm joking, that was a joke. Trying to disengage the sap in me" he said.

Hermione smiled and pushed George hard so he backed into the bedroom. She pushed him again so that he was laying on the bed. She hastily removed his boxers, revealing his erection waiting for her to claim it.

She divested herself of the rest of her clothing and climbed up the bed from his feet. She stopped at the top of his thighs and took him into her hand, stroking up and down, watching Georges face as she did. He was watching her intently, closing his eyes every now and then. She took a moment of courage and used her tongue to lick up the entire length of it, taking a moment to appreciate the throbbing it was now emitting. The bead of cum on the end was a surprise to Hermione, who tasted the salty substance and was now intrigued. She repeated the previous motion, this time, placing her whole mouth around it when she reached the tip. George's sharp intake of breath was enough for her to know she was doing this correctly. She hadn't ever wanted to do it before. She pressed her lips tightly around his length, sucking in with her cheeks and bobbing her head up and down. He was quite large, so she found that she struggled to get to the base, but she used her hand as a guide. As she listened to George's breathing, she heard them become more unsteady, quicker. The jerking motion of his legs indicated to her that he was close, and she wanted him to finish. To enjoy this. She sped up, sucking, licking, moving her hand up and down his incredibly hard length. She hadn't realised before how hard he could get and how large he truly was. She was wrapped up in the rhythm she had created and barely heard when George took her head in his hands.

"I'm… I'm going to cum" he moaned, but she didn't stop. She wanted him to. She wanted to taste him, to experience his pleasure. She wanted to feel his juices in her mouth. It was so sensual to her and when he bucked his hips and came into her mouth, she swallowed eagerly, desperate to please him.

At this point, she was unsure about what to do. She had pleased him, yet, she was naked and desperate for him to touch her. She laid down beside him and gazed at the look of sheer pleasure that adorned his face.

"You are full of surprises" he said, as he rolled towards her and let his hand travel south down her body.

"I aim to please" she said, closing her eyes as his finger dipped inside of her.

"You're soaking" he said, pumping a finger in and out of her. It was agonisingly sweet. She was desperate for more. She pressed her hips against his hand, desperate for friction. He continued tormenting her with his one finger, now curling it inside her, searching for that spot she knew he knew so well. She lifted her hips and he thrust another finger inside of her. She let out a moan of absolute pleasure at the intrusion and as he found the tender place inside of her and pressed against it, she moaned even louder. Her orgasm came quicker than she thought possible, just with him using two fingers and not touching her clit. She hadn't experienced anything like it before, and the intensity of it make her scream out in pleasure.

Through the starts behind her eyes and the ringing in her ears, she vaguely became aware of George moving on the bed, climbing on top of her. She was all sensation, all over her body. She was on fire and as he eagerly thrust himself inside of her, she cried out, yet again in pleasure. He was absolutely the king of making her feel good and as he moved, slowly at first, she felt the dissipating orgasm begin to build again. He increased in speed, grabbing her short hair in his hands.

"You're so fucking perfect" he grunted as he pounded into her, again and again.

"I love you so much" she said, reaching the peak of her pleasure.

"You're mine. I am yours. Now cum for me Hermione" he said.

He didn't have to say it twice, she was already there. His words pushed her over the edge and with a scream of pleasure she came all around him as he released himself inside of her.

He didn't pull out before collapsing on top of her. His weight was just bearable.

She didn't know when she fell asleep, but when the sun shone through the window, she felt him stir, still on top of her. He was no longer inside of her, but as he moved and she felt him harden against her, she held him close and moved herself ever so slightly so that he entered her again. She couldn't get enough of this man who called himself her husband and with the two of them barely awake, they made love till they both came undone again before falling asleep once more.

~~OvO~~

* * *

**AN - I think i'm getting better at writing the smutty scenes. It doesn't make me cringe anymore. That's good, right? Its coming up to Christmas for the Weasleys. How awkward will that be, now that Hermione is fighting with Lavender, Ginny has an announcement to make and Hermione and George are sex ****fiends**** who just want to bonk each others brains out every moment of everyday?!**

* * *

Citation: Green, John. The Fault in Our Stars. New York: Dutton, 2012.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN- This chapter came quicker than I expected (Like Ron LMAO). **

**Please enjoy.**

~~OvO~~

The day before the Christmas holidays, Hermione was leaving the library when she was approached my Madame Pomfrey.

"Miss Granger… that is to say… Mrs Weasley" she called.

Hermione stopped, having managed to avoid the healer all semester.

"Madame Pomfrey, how nice to have run into you" Hermione said, making to walk off.

"Yes of course, it has been quite some time" the healer said.

"I hope you're well madame" Hermione said.

"Yes, quite" she answered.

"Well, it was nice seeing you again, but I must go" she said.

"No, Mrs Weasley, I have been trying to catch you. The ministry is eager for your test results" Madame Pomfrey said.

"Test results?"

"Yes, I am yet to conduct a thorough reproductive test on you" she said.

"Well, that's no necessary, I am not interested" she said.

"I'm afraid its part of the contract. You must" she said sadly.

"When?" Hermione asked.

"Immediately. They need the results before the Christmas holidays. You have left Hogwarts for residential purposes so its been quite difficult to catch you" she said.

"Ok, you can perform basic tests, but nothing too invasive" she said.

"Basic it is" Pomfrey said, leading Hermione towards the hospital wing.

When they arrived n the hosptial wing, Hermione noticed that there was a new room added to the hospital which was labelled 'private'. As Hermione eyed the door suspiciously, her unasked questions were answered.

"I thought it would be more appropriate if these types of things could be spoken about and performed in private" Pomfrey said.

"I appreciate that" Hermione said.

"Now lay down and lift your shit above your belly button. I will check for anything that might hider a… a uh… Pregnancy and check that you're cycling correctly" the healer said.

"My cycle is regular. Every 28 days" Hermione said

"Good. That's good to know. And, you and Mr Weasley, have you been engaging in sexual activity?" she asked, blushing.

"We have" Hermione answered, feeling awkward to be discussing this with the healer who had once assisted her when she accidentally turned herself into a cat at the age of 13.

"Right you are. And how long have you been engaging in such activity?" she asked.

"Since September. I was with my ex fiancé in September and my husband also in September" she said.

As the witch waved her wand over Hermione's stomach, she frowned and um'd and ah'd. Hermione had no idea what the colours hovering above her meant, as she had never studied healing and never had the desire to study obstetrics healing.

"You say you've been regular in your cycle?"

"Yes, every 28 days, for 3 days. As it has always been" she said.

"Heavy?" she asked.

"Not particularly" Hermione said.

"And you first had intercourse without contraceptives in September?" she asked.

"Yes"

"I'm sorry to pry, love, but do you know precisely when in September?" she asked.

"It was around my birthday, so the 20th or so" she said. "Why the questions?" she asked.

"You can sit up now, the testing is done" she said.

"Am I fertile enough for the ministries standards?" she asked.

"My dear, you are pregnant already" she said.

"That's impossible. I have had my period every month, like clockwork. I can't be" she said.

"I performed the spell several times Mrs Weasley" she said.

"How is that possible?" she asked.

"Sometimes you can have a regular period throughout the pregnancy. Its rare, but it happens" Pomfrey said.

"So… How… I mean, how far along am I?" she asked.

"That is where it gets tricky" the healer said.

"Tricky? Are your spells indicative of progression, or aren't they?" she asked.

"They are"

"So, tell me"

"You conceived somewhere between the 26th of September and the 1st of October" Madame Pomfrey said.

"So… I don't understand. There is no exact day?" she asked remembering that the ball was on the 26th of September.

"Well, fertilisation can occur anywhere from a few hours to a few days after intercourse. So it is not certain when the intercourse occurred, but the date of your pregnancy is approximately the 1st of October" she said.

"I uh… I need to speak to…" she said, unable to finish the sentence.

"There's more that I haven't told you" she said.

"What more could there be? What? Twins?" she asked.

"Well…." He began.

"No. I am not carrying twins" she said.

"You are. You're having non identical twins" madame Pomfrey said.

"Great. That's just great" she said, anger flooding her system.

"Here is some information about pregnancy and some vitamins you must take for the duration of the pregnancy" Madame Pomfrey said.

"Thank you" Hermione said, taking the pamphlets and pills before picking up her bag and leaving the hospital wing in a hurry.

She stormed off the connected floo that had been set up for the senior students and flood home to the flat above the store.

She had no time to process this news. She thought she was being careful not to have sex during her ovulation time. Apparently, that didn't matter, because she had fallen pregnant before that was even a consideration.

She dumped her bag and used her wand to change her clothes. She was in complete shock as she made her way down the stairs which led to the back of the shop. She contemplated running out the back door, but she knew she must tell George.

The shop was empty except for Angelina, who was stacking shelves.

She approached George who smiled brightly when she noticed her, however, when he saw her face, his smile fell.

"What's wrong" he asked.

"Can we have a word?" she said to him, taking him by the hand and leading him out the back of the store.

"I uh, I finished my potions essay pretty quickly and I found that book you told me about" she said, stumbling over he words.

"Uh, ok, that's great. Now whats wrong?" he asked.

"Madame Pomfrey came to me and said that the ministry were demanding test results to determine fertility. I didn't want to, but I went with her" she said.

"Did she hurt you?" he asked.

"No, nothing like that. She was scanning me, asking me all kinds o questions. I told her how my cycle is regular and she asked f we'd had sex and I said we had. She waved her wand over me and all these sodding lights shone. I thought it was just the diagnostics, you know. I thought she was just figuring out how likely it would be for us to conceive…" she went on.

"Were the results bad? I dint understand" he said.

"George… I'm pregnant" she said, tears filling her eyes.

"You're? We're going to have a baby?" he asked.

"Two… Two babies" she said, still upset.

"Twins?" he asked, his face dropping for a moment. Hermione sensed his fear in realising that they may have just created the next Fred and George.

"Non identical twins" she said.

"This is… I mean… Its sooner than we wanted, but not totally unexpected, right?" he asked.

"No, not unexpected" she said.

"Well, when are we due?" How far…" he began, but Hermione cut him off.

"George!" she said, suddenly, stepping back from him and closing her eyes.

"What? What is it?" he asked.

"I conceived on the 1st of October" she said.

"That's the… the day you returned to Hogwarts" he said.

"Madame Pomfrey said conception can happen between a few hours and a few days after intercourse" she said, tears now spilling out of her eyes and rolling down her cheeks.

"So… that's ok, we had sex Hermione. We had loads of sex the night of the ball. And in the morning… and…." He stopped.

"And…" she said.

"And you and Ron…" he said.

"Me and Ron…" she repeated.

George sat on a nearby box, placing his head in his hands.

"Is there a way to find out?" he asked.

"I… I didn't ask. I couldn't think" she said, standing in front of him.

"Well, I would like to believe that… Me and you, we were matched Hermione. We were matched for a reason. If you were destined to have a child with Ron, you would have been matched with him. I have no reason to doubt that these babies…" he looked up into her eyes and placed his hands on her belly… "…are mine. Are ours. Our creations. Our attempt a ridding ourselves of being awkward created these two lives" he said with a smile.

His smile brought about a happiness of her own and she smiled back, kneeling down in front of him and kissing him.

"So, these are our babies. We're going to be parents. To two children" she said.

"The next Fred and George" he said.

"Oh Merlin" she said.

"Mum's going to be thrilled" George said.

"Well, we're past the first trimester. So I think that once we get over the shock of this, we can tell your family if you like" she said.

"At Christmas?" he asked.

"I think that would be nice" she said.

"So the babies, they're healthy? They're ok?" he asked.

"I uh, didn't get much of an opportunity to ask. I was so shocked that I just ran out of there" she said.

George stood up and took her by the hand.

"Let's go back. Do it properly" he said.

"I think id like that" she said, following George upstairs and into the floo.

The couple arrived at the hospital wing of Hogwarts hand in hand, ready to completely accept the news of their pregnancy.

"I'm so sorry I ran off like I did Madame. It was such a shock to me. But George and I have some questions" she said.

"Certainly dear. Come on through" she said, leading them into the private room where Hermione had taken off from less than half an hour earlier.

They all took a seat and the healer took out a circular piece of parchment that was attached t another circular piece of parchment. She twisted it around and sat it down n the table.

"I have been drinking and doing things I probably shouldn't have. Is that going to hurt the babes?" she asked.

"Its safest not to drink at all while your pregnant, but the placenta does quite the job of keeping toxins away from the babies. There is a slight chance that the alcohol interacted with them, however, the long term implications are relatively minor" she said.

"Relatively?" Gorge asked.

"Yes. There is no guarantee that there will be no effects on the babies. However, given that it was only a few times, it is unlikely that they were adversely affected" she said.

"And we can still have sex?" George asked.

"Absolutely. There's no harm that can come to the babies through intercourse" Madame Pomfrey said.

"So, they're healthy?" he asked.

"Very much so" Madame Pomfrey said. "In fact, if you'd like to lay down, I will perform a scan and you can see them" she said.

Hermione looked at George, excitement etched on his face. She stood from the seat and laid herself down on the bed where she had been analysed before.

Madame Pomfrey waved her wand over Hermione's belly and after a few moments, the pixelated image of two little bodies floated above her. They were so tiny, but so perfect. Hermione's eyes filled with tears as she watched them wriggle about. It was the most bizarre feeling in the world to Hermione and when George took her hand and kissed it, she realised that he was experiencing this all with her as well.

"Its quite early to tell, but do you want to know the genders of your babies? I am pretty certain I can see" the healer said.

Hermione looked at George who nodded and then said "yes" to Pomfrey who turned her wand slightly.

"Well, as you can see there, this one is a little boy… and if we look at the other one… a little girl" she said.

"So not another Fred and George after all" Hermione said to her husband.

~~OvO~~

Hermione and George turned up to the Burrow on Christmas eve with presents in hand to place under the tree. Molly had arranged a feast for the whole family and surprised everyone by having renovated the entire house in their absence.

"Well, I was here completely on my own. Your father at work, all my children off at school or at work. What was I to do? This house was created by magic and it was altered by magic" she said.

"This is great mum. I can't believe the size of it" George said, looking around the place, not letting go of Hermione hand.

The dining room had been extended to accommodation an enormous table and the living room was much bigger also. The stairs were less rickety, and more bathrooms were added.

"Hermione dear, I made up the cot in Ginny's room" Molly called as George led her towards his room.

"Mother, we are married. Ginny is also married. Its safe t say that we can share a room with our spouses now" George called down.

"Oh my, I wasn't prepared for this" Molly said, stirring a pot which had become overexcited.

"What's the worst that can happen? I get her regnant?" George called.

Hermione slapped his arm as they arrived on the second floor. He pushed open his bedroom door, revealing the room he had shared with Fred his whole life.

He waved his wand and tidied the mess that he had apparently left behind last time he was home. Hermione looked at the empty bed where a giant F emblazoned upon the wall sparkled down at them.

"I never thought to… You know, take it out" he said, sitting on his bed.

"Its ok, you don't have to" she said.

"No, I think its time. We'll be staying here at Christmases and holidays and things. It need to go" he said, standing before the unused bed.

She shrunk the bed, along with Fred's drawers and the boxes of Fred's things which had been packed up over the months. Hermione picked up a small tub and transfigured it into a ornamental box and handed it to George. George put Fred's things inside and shut the lid, placing it on his chest of drawers.

"There. Gone, but not" he said, standing in the middle of the room which now had a lot of space.

"He's never gone. Not really. Fred will always live on through you and through me and through these little ones" she said, patting her belly.

"I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I'm beyond glad you're here" he said, taking her in his arms.

She reached up on tip toes and kissed him on his lips. It was supposed to be a comforting loving kiss, however, George, having a girl in his room for the first time, took advantage of the situation, and promptly screwed Hermione against the chest of drawers, ensuring he placed silencing wards to prevent his mother hearing her cry out in pleasure.

~~OvO~~

As the rest of the Weasley clan arrived, Hermione offered to help Molly in the kitchen.

"It is really lovely of you to have organised all of this Molly" Hermione said.

"Nonsense. Its more important now than ever to have the family together my dear" she said.

"That's very true" Hermione said, stirring the gravy.

"My dear, you're the best thing to have happened to George. I haven't seen him so happy since… well... in a long time. We always thought you were for Ron, but this just goes to show. Maybe the ministry had it right all along?" Molly suggested.

"Thank you, Molly. George and I are in an amazing place right now. I want you to know that I love him with all of my heart. Not just as a friend or as someone I grew up knowing. But as a husband and a partner. George is an incredible man and he makes me so incredibly happy" Hermione said.

Molly wiped a tear with her apron and pulled Hermione into a hug.

"Now, off with you my dear, I can take this from here" she said, shooing Hermione from the kitchen.

Hermione made her way through to the living room, where the majority of the Weasleys were gathered.

"No quidditch?" Hermione asked, having assumed they would be playing.

"No, too cold" Ginny said.

"She's a whimp. Doesn't want to get beaten" said Charlie who had come home from Romania.

Hermione knew exactly why Ginny didn't want to play and it had nothing to do with the cold. Hermione had seen Ginny play in rain, hail, snow, sleet and shine. It was obvious that Ginny was going to use this occasion to reveal the news about her pregnancy. Too bad that was Hermione and George's plan also.

Ron and Lavender arrived shortly before dinner was served and placed their gifts under the tree. Ron took his place on the lounge and Lavender sat on his knee. They appeared to be quite close and very touchy feely which she knew wasn't Ron's style at all.

The conversation went on, all the while, Ron and Lavender not looking towards Hermione at all. She hadn't spoken to them since the party and she thought best to avoid them at all costs.

When Molly called for dinner, the group took their places at the table, having spread out up and down to make way for the newer members of the family.

Hermione watched as Lavender went to sit directly next to George, however, she interjected from her place on the other side of George, placing an object down where the plate would sit.

"I hope everyone doesn't mind, but I thought… seeing as though this is the first Christmas without Fred, we could have his picture here" she announced, standing up the object, which turned out to be a framed picture of Fred, looking up at everyone and waving.

Molly stopped dead in her tracks and looked at the picture with an unreadable expression.

"Hermione dear, that… that… oh Godric" she said, a tears flowed freely down her face. She quickly put down the tray of potatoes she had been carrying and hurried off back to the kitchen.

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked George.

"No, my love, you did something very right" he said, kissing her on the temple. "Thank you" he said.

Hermione stood and made her way to the kitchen to check on Molly.

"The gravy dear…" Molly said.

"Molly…" she began.

"The corn need to come out too" Molly said.

"Molly…." Hermione said, a little more forceful.

Molly turned around, eyes red and puffy for crying. She looked to the younger Mrs Weasley and smiled through her tears.

"We have spent so long trying to brush off the fact that he's gone. No one talks about him. No one knows what to do or what to say" Molly said.

"That's ok. That's normal" Hermione said.

"Then you, my dear girl. With something as simple as a framed photo. You've made my whole year Hermione. You really have" Molly said, pulling Hermione into a hug.

"Fred isn't gone Molly. He's here. He's in everyone" Hermione said. "Thank you dear" Molly said, waving her wand at the remaining food platters, sending them to the table.

"I thought you always did that by hand?" Hermione said.

"There are some hungry people out there my dear" Molly said.

Once everyone was seated, Arthur stood to speak.

"Well, quite a year we've all had. I want to thank all my children for coming. Bill and Fleur. Charlie, Percy and Penelope, George and Hermione, Ron and Lavender, Ginny and Harry. You are all my children. Please, lets enjoy a free, happy and safe Christmas" he said.

Harry raised his glass in a toast, "To a free, happy and safe Christmas"

"To Harry, who rid our world of Voldemort" Charlie said.

"To Ron and Hermione for helping" Ginny said.

"To Ron who saved my life this year. In more ways than one" Lavender said.

"To Fred, who gave his life so that we could all sit here and be happy and safe" Hermione said.

The choruses of cheers continued until Ginny nudged Harry and stood to her feet.

"While we're all here, before everyone eats, there's something Harry and I would like to say" she began.

"Oh my" Molly said, having guessed.

"We're going to have a baby" Harry said, looking nervously around at his five brothers-in-law.

"Oh my, Ginny, congratulations. Congratulations Harry. My oh my" Molly said.

At this, Hermione looked to George and the pair of them stood.

"Well, I suppose we had better make an announcement too…" George said. "We're having twins" he said, and the gasps around the room continued.

"Well, I don't want to be left out" Lavender said, standing to her feet, pulling Ron with her. "Its only early, but we're going to be parents as well" she said, clapping her hands and jumping up and down.

"And we all know Fleur and I are regnant too, so…. Happy Christmas mum, babies all round" Bill said.

"Charlie, Percy, your turn" George said, as everyone sat down.

"Not likely. I was excluded from the marriage law" he said.

"Yeah for good reason" Lavender said.

"And what reason is that?" Ron asked.

"Well, Charlie's gay, right?" she asked, receiving shocked remarks all around the table.

"Well, I wasn't going to ruin everyone's announcements by making one of my own… but… yeah, I am" he said.

The whole room was silent. No one knew what to say. It wasn't rejection or fear that was keeping the Weasleys quiet, but the shock of Charlie's announcement.

"That's great Charlie. Good on you mate. Now can we eat please? I'm starving" Can't the eventual declaration of Ron. A sign that all was good around the table.

As they all ate and made small talk, Hermione realised that Ron's breaking the silence was the most thoughtful thing he could have done. Not only did he not shame Charlie when it was clear that Charlie was quite concerned about his announcement, he normalised it. He aided in the group in moving beyond the shock and helped them come to an understanding. She placed her hand on her stomach, which was still quite flat and wondered if she was carrying Ron's or Georges children. The thought gutted her. She couldn't fathom the idea of the babies not being her husbands. However, she still loved Ron with some deep part of her heart and to have _his_ babies wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. It could be worse. It could be much worse.

As George chatted with Charlie about his partner in Romania, Hermione looked across the table to Ron. He was attentive and loving to Lavender, careful around her and quite protective. She smiled to herself, wondering if they had been matched, would he have been like this with her? Would she be sitting in Lavender's place, smiling and gushing over having Ron's baby?

Ron looked over to Hermione and smiled. She wished and hoped that the awkward tension between them had completely gone, but she saw it in Ron's eyes. He missed her just as much as she missed him. She raised her glass of soda in his direction, a silent cheers to their separate impending children. He raised his back and smiled through his sip. Hermione looked away as her eyes filled with tears, catching the line of sight of Ginny.

Ginny's frown was all Hermione needed for confirmation that she had been seen having a moment.

She loved George. She was in love with George. Their life was perfect. Their life was great. So why, whenever Hermione looked at Ron, did she feel that ache inside of her soul? That flutter of her heart that reminded her that she once loved _him_ that way.

She hoped that it wouldn't be like this forever. It had only been three months.

"So, Hermione, when are you due?" Penelope asked.

"Oh, uh, the first of July, but madame Pomfrey said that twins rarely come when they're due" she said.

"You're right love…" Molly began as Hermione noticed Lavender counting on her fingers. "Fred and George were a few weeks early. Its best to be prepared" Molly finished.

Ginny also looked to Hermione, confusion on her face.

"Hermione, could you help me with something?" Ginny asked.

"Sure" she said, getting up and heading to the living room.

"You lied" Ginny said

"I didn't"

"I asked you if you were pregnant. You lied"

"I dint know then"

"You're almost three months Hermione. How could you not know?"

"I have no idea Ginny, that's what I asked Madame Pomfrey. She said its rare but it happens"

"Are the babies George's?" Ginny asked. Hermione felt an accusatory tone and anger radiating off the person who was supposed to be her best friend.

"I… Of course. Of course, they're Georges. That's… What a…" Hermione stuttered.

"Late September. That's when you would have conceived. I can count and so can everyone else and as soon as they do, they'll all start asking questions as well" Ginny said, turning her back on Hermione and leaving the room.

Hermione sat on the lounge chair, staring at the wall in shock. Ginny had just been so cold towards her. How was that possible?

She returned to the table, not making eye contact with anyone.

"Are you ok?" George whispered to her.

"No" she answered truthfully, as she dug into her dessert.

"Molly, you've done an amazing job, as always" Hermione said though her threatening tears. "I'd love the recipe" she said.

"Certainly dear, I'll make you a book" Molly said.

"I'd appreciate that, thank you" Hermione said.

"I have a book, you know" George said to her quietly.

"I know that, I just want to be in you mother's good graces" she said.

"For what? Why? You already are" George said.

"We'll talk about it later" she said, eating her food quietly while the table bustled with conversation.

Late that night, after presents were exchanged and stories were told, each of the children returned to their rooms.

Molly had been wise to renovate the house as each child, apart from Charlie, had brought their partner and demanded their privacy. Where Charlie once shared with Bill, He now had his own room on the third floor.

"My mother loves you Hermione. You'll never be out of her good graces" George said she they got ready for bed.

"No George, she still sees me as 4th year Hermione who apparently toyed with Harry's feelings. Then dated your brother and then married you and got knocked up. I didn't hesitate to kiss Ron and Malfoy that night at the party and I don't even know for sure if these babies are yours. I'm pretty sure that would put me definitely out of her good graces" Hermione said.

"Is that what you're worried about? A fourth year misunderstanding, being matched with someone beyond your control and a game of spin the bottle, which I was there for. These babies are ours, regardless of who put them there. We can have them tested once they're born and that information will be for us to decide to share" George said.

Hermione laid down beside him in the bed and snuggled up next to him.

"I love you so much, you know that, right?" she said.

"Of course I do" he said.

"Sometimes, I look to Ron and wonder if he would have been kind to me. The way you are. I wonder sometimes if we would have made it. Without the marriage law. If me and Ron would have ended up together for the long run" she said.

"That's only natural Hermione. Its been three months. Give it time" he said.

"You're way too good to me" she said.

"I can't help it" he said, kissing her temple.

"Ginny went off at me. Told me that I've been lying about being pregnant for months and that people are going to start talking" she said.

"Let them. Let them talk. Let everyone talk all about us and our babies. I'll happily be the centre of attention" he said, rubbing her back gently as she closed her eyes.

"One day, George, you will see my flaws" she said.

"And I will care just as much then as I do now" he said, kissing the top of her head.

Hermione drifted off to sleep and dreamt the same dream she had dreamt all week. Of little red-haired children, running around, calling her mummy. She laughs and plays with them, running around a field of flowers. Only tonight, the dream is different. They stop playing when Ron and George come past and they look confused. One of the twins runs to Ron and calls him daddy while the other runs to George and calls _him_ daddy.

She sits up with a fright and climbs out of bed carefully, hoping not to wake George. She makes her way down the stairs and into the kitchen where she puts on a pot of hot chocolate. Its almost morning so she's certain that a large pot won't go to waste. As she ladles some into a cup for herself, she hears a creaky floorboard behind her. She turned to see Ron standing awkwardly behind her, rubbing the back of his neck.

He feels awkward

"Can't sleep?" she asked.

"No. This house…" he said.

"Yep" she said, handing him the cup she poured and pouring another for herself.

"Mums happy to have the house full again" he said, sitting at the table across from her.

"I bet" Hermione said, sipping her drink.

"So twins?" he asked.

"Yep, apparently" she said.

"The next Fred and George" he said with a smile.

"Or Ron and George" she said.

Ron looked at her for a moment before his eyes widened.

"You're three months gone" he said.

"I am" she answered, not looking away from her drink.

"So…" he said.

"So do that maths" she said.

"Math was never my string suit" he said.

"I conceived in the last week of September, Ron" she said.

"But…" he said.

"You're getting there"

"They could be mine?" he asked.

"There you go" she said.

"What… I mean… does George know?" he asked.

"George knows and he is willing to do whatever is right by me and the babies" she said.

"But if they're mine, I need to know" Ron said.

"Look, you don't want to hear this, but George and I… We were together a fair bit that week. Me and you, I mean, that was one time and I wouldn't even really count it" she said, draining her cup and placing it in the sink.

"Hermione, wait. Don't you think this is fate?" he asked.

"Fate? If fate is real, then these babies are Georges" she said, turning and walking up the stairs.


	9. Chapter 9

Days turned into weeks and weeks to months. Hermione and George's relationship gained momentum and they became known as one of the most successful couples of forced marriages the wizarding world had produced.

Not too long after Hermione announced her pregnancy, the articles in the daily prophet began.

There were articles which indicated a Weasley family scam, some that pointed to incest and some that argued that Hermione, George, Ron and Lavender were in a polygamous marriage. Initially, Hermione was angry, frustrated and annoyed by the articles, however when they gained in frequency, she simply laughed them off as Rita Skeeter's attempt to get back at her for having kept her in a jar, years ago.

As it neared exam month, Hermione grew more and more nervous, anxious and downright terrified. Her stomach was bigger than she imagined it could ever become and she now waddled around the castle. She tried to hide it for as long as she could, however, it was only a couple of weeks after discovering shas pregnant that she began to show and as soon as she began to show, her belly grew with increasing speed.

As soon as someone would approach her, she'd attempt to cover herself, as everybody thought it was their right to put their hands on her. The idea surrounding personal space was completely forgotten by almost everyone.

She hid in the back of the library most days, cramming study in while downing heartburn potions by the bottle. Her twins were constantly moving, pushing against her ribs, her bladder, every vital organ was now much less vital because the space was purely taken up by growing babies.

At the end of the day, Hermione would floo home to the flat and lay in bed beside George who would draw patterns on her belly and talk to his twins. He had turned to a giant sap who just about cried at every scan. He had began developing products to help with pregnancy, which seemed to be taking off.

There were products for morning sickness, heartburn, leg cramps, fatigue and more, and given the rate of pregnancies both within Hogwarts and the wizarding world in general, they flew off the shelves faster than George could develop them.

Ginny experienced very little side effects of her pregnancy. She didn't begin to show until much later than Hermione, despite finding out that they conceived within days of each other.

"Twins Hermione. They clearly take up far more space than just one" Ginny would tell Hermione when she turned on her side and saw a watermelon protruding from underneath her shirt.

Lavender's pregnancy only made her happier. Her skin was glowing, her hair was shiny and voluminous, her nails were healthy, and she had a bounce in her every step. Ron wasn't as attentive as George, but still attended the scans and check-ups.

Pansy was the next to announce her pregnancy in late March. She became so violently ill that she moved permanently to the hospital wing and had her work brought to her. Draco was ever the doting husband, something that Hermione hadn't expected. He started showing signs of emotion, caring, kindness and perhaps even love, towards his wife. He assigned her a house elf from his manor, which tended to Pansy's every need. When Hermione attempted to protest, he advised her that he did in fact pay them and it was their choice to remain despite offering to free them.

The friendships that had formed between the members of the returning 8th year were stronger than ever, based on the fact that they were all going through the same thing. Luna was yet to conceive, something that was beginning to become a worry. If she hadn't conceived by September, the ministry would step in. Luna didn't seem phased, retreating to a place of 'what will be will be'.

In the beginning of May, the ministry began to run articles about the war, the battle and about the 'golden trio'. Hermione received owls requesting an interview and refused each and every one. Her return letters often reminded the ministry that this might be a better time to mourn those that were lost rather than celebrate the year that has gone by.

The ministry organised a ball to commemorate the battle, and as the night drew closer, Hermione began noticing George retreat into himself more and more. She tried to talk to him about it, to understand how he was feeling. After all, this wasn't only the anniversary of the end of Voldemort's reign, or the anniversary of the battle, it was a year since Fred died. And to George, that was far more important than the battle, than Voldemort or than a stupid ball.

The morning of the ball, Hermione sat at the end of the bed, examining her swollen feet. She still had 7 weeks till her due date, but she was ready for it to be over. Her last check up showed that the twins were growing perfectly on time for their gestation and everything was fine.

"Why should we have to attend this ball? Its truly ridiculous" she said to George who was returning from the bathroom.

"I think they want to remind everyone about how great they think they are and about all the good they think they have done" George said, helping Hermione to her feet.

"I would still rather a more commemorative event than a celebratory ball" she said, rubbing a new cream that George had developed all over her itching belly.

"I would rather a time turner take us back and stop the whole thing from happening in the first place" George muttered as he left the room and entered the kitchen.

Hermione never knew what to say in these moments. It was as though George wanted her to know how much he was hurting, but didn't want to say it to her. She knew though. She could tell but the way he distanced himself from everyone.

"Alright, we'll just go to the ball, do what we need to do, show them that we're no puppets of the ministry and leave early. We'll come home and lay in bed and you can rub my aching feet" she said, taking a seat at the breakfast bar as George cooked some eggs.

"Sounds like a plan" he said.

"Anything planned for today?" Hermione asked him.

"Well, I closed the shop. Wanted to avoid the while "battle fever" thing. I was going to go to the Burrow, show my face, let everyone know that I'm still here" he said.

"Its been a while" she said, the double meaning in her words clear to George. They hadn't been to the Burrow in weeks, having been quite busy with the shop and Hogwarts and just trying to spend time with each other. Hermione rarely felt like travelling and they often just stayed at the flat on weekends, George working on new products and Hermione cramming for her NEWTS.

They ate breakfast in silence, something Hermione didn't push back on. She didn't know what George needed from her and she wanted him to have his space if he needed, but she also wanted him to know she was there for him. This would be a test for their relationship.

Mid-morning, they flood to the Burrow. Hermione was told not to apparate in the last trimester to prevent an accidental foetal splinching. The thought made Hermione sick to her stomach so she too the advice she was given and hadn't apparated anywhere in weeks.

The Burrow was quiet when they arrived. Molly had made muffins, which George helped himself to.

"You just had breakfast" Hermione admonished.

"Yes, but these are mum's muffins. I could eat a Hippogriff and still have room for one of these" he said, with a mouth full of food. He reminded her of they way Ron always spoke with food in his mouth and she turned away and headed out the back door.

"What's the matter? Not into eating Hippogriffs?" he asked.

She rubbed her hand over her bump, which was causing her a bit of grief, and rolled her eyes at her husband. The act wasn't missed by George.

"Everything ok?" He asked.

"Fine, just uncomfortable. Turns out, having two humans living inside your stomach sometimes hurts" she said with a grimace.

"We can skip the ball if you like?" he asked with a smile.

"You know we can't. I'm expected to be there, beach ball and all" she said looking down.

"You shouldn't have to be going anywhere, you can't even see your toes" he said.

"Oh, my dear me, look at you, love. I remember when I was having the twins how horrible it felt Molly said, having exited the chicken shed carrying a basket of eggs.

"Molly, its good to see you" Hermione said.

"And you my dear… George, its been too long. And you need a haircut" Molly said, harshening her tone to the sin she hadn't seen in weeks.

"Well, today is your lucky day. You can cut it for me if you like" he said.

"Definitely don't let Hermione cut your hair, she's hopeless at it" came the voice of Harry as he exited the back door, a pregnant Ginny behind him.

"Harry, Ginny, what a nice surprise" Molly said.

"Good to see you Molly" Harry said, hugging his mother in law, while Ginny and Hermione stood facing each other.

"What are they doing?" Molly asked.

"They want the babies to be friends, so they let them play. Quite strange really" George said.

"Well, they'll be cousins, born in the same month. Of course they'll be friends" Molly said, shaking her head and muttering something about new age children being strange.

As Molly went inside and set about making a soup for lunch, Hermione accompanied George to the family cemetery. There were a couple of rows of Weasley's who had been buried here over the last hundred years or so and the most recent one, Fred's plot, had seemed to now blend in.

Hermione waved her wand and created a wreath similar to the one she made for the Potters during the war months when she visited Godrics Hollow with Harry. George just smiled a sad smile and put his arm around his wife. They stood in silence for a while before Hermione needed to sit.

"I'm going to go sit by the tree" she said, grimacing as one of the twins kicked her in what must surely have been a vital organ.

She walked through the headstones and sat down on a bench under a large tree. She watched as George squatted down beside the stone of his twin. After a few moments, he wiped a tear away from his cheek and a short while later, Hermione noticed his body shaking in what appeared to be sobs. She stood as quickly as her body allowed and waddled over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. George had completely fallen to pieces.

"Its completely unfair" he said.

Hermione was lost for what to say.

"It should have been me. It could have. I was there, I was right where he stood, but he told me to move. Said I was blocking his aim" he wept.

"Oh George…"

"I should have been there. I should have saved him" George said.

"George, there wasn't anything anyone could have done. He was hit by a curse" she said softly.

"It should have been me... It should have been me…." He repeated, over and over again. Hermione didn't know what to do or say, so she conjured a chair and sat beside her husband and let him cry in her lap.

They sat for what felt like hours, Hermione rubbing soothing circles on George's back, while he just cried. There was no book that could tell her what to say in these moments, so she began telling stories of what she remembered about Fred.

George didn't speak but seemed to be listening as she told story after story.

"No one really knows this, but me and Fred, we used to talk, at night" she said, looking to the headstone. Fred would want George to know what they spoke about. "Before Bill and Fleur's wedding… I'd get up and make hot chocolate when I couldn't sleep and he'd usually be down there, listening to the wireless or reading a book. He would often just joke and laugh with me, but after a while, we had some pretty honest conversations about what was to come. He loved his family, he cared about all of you, but do you know what his biggest fear was? He was so afraid that he would die and everyone around him would stop living. That he would be gone and would have no control over everyone's happiness. It's probably not very believable and I don't know why I didn't tell anyone till now, I just… I think you ought to know. Fred cared about everyone, so so deeply. He wanted you to be happy. He just wanted this war to be over and for life to go to some semblance of normal... I think… I think its perfectly ok to miss Fred. Its ok to be sad, Merlin, its ok to be anything. But if you think for a second that Fred would have wanted you to die in his place, you're wrong. He would have given anything for any of you. He would have died for you as much as you say you'd have died for him" she said.

The silence in the air was deafening. George still lay his head in her lap, pressed against her stomach. She thought fr a moment that he may have fallen asleep, but when the twins began wriggling around, pushing against George's head, he gave a little giggle and turned to face her stomach.

"Hi there little one" he said in a soft voice to her stomach.

She ran her fingers through his hair.

"Your mum is right you know" he said to her belly. "She is always right" he whispered, as her belly moved.

"We have little people in here" he said, looking up at her.

"We do" she said.

"Can we call the boy Fred?" George asked, fear in his eyes.

"I think that would be lovely" she said.

"Hear that little guy? That's your name. Fred. After your uncle. He would have loved you both. He would have made you things and cared about you and looked after you. He would have bought you your first broom and made you your first love potion when you got a crush on someone in school. I would have been so mad at him, but we would have laughed when it backfired. Your mum would have cursed him into oblivion mind, but he would have loved you" George said, a hand on Hermione's belly, where little feet or hands or elbows were pressing against.

Hermione took George's face in her hands and pulled him up towards her.

"I couldn't love you more than I do right now" she said, kissing him.

George didn't say it back, but he rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, just relishing in the moment.

~~OvO~~

The dress that Hermione bought for the ball barely fit over her belly. It was supposed to stretch, but there was always a point where the stretch was not enough. She turned to her side and looked in the mirror at her profile. She hadn't gained much weight overall, so she looked like she had placed a beachball under her dress.

She fixed her hair, which had now grown back to just below her shoulders and applied some natural make up. She wasn't going for a glamourous look, she just wanted to look healthy.

George put on his best robes and styled his now short hair.

They stood before the mirror in their bedroom and were pleased with their appearance. Hermione turned on her side and frowned at her size.

"Stop it" George said to her.

"Stop what?" she asked.

"Pulling that face, every time you look at yourself in the mirror" he said.

"It's just… Look at the size of me" she said.

"I am. You're beautiful. You're the most beautiful creature I've ever seen" he said, standing behind her and rubbing his hands over her belly. "Besides, the bigger this gets, the bigger these are" he said, fondling her breasts which had just about doubled in size as well.

"Well, not only am I hugely pregnant, I look like a harlot who is spilling out of my dress" she said, trying to swat his hands away and failing.

"We still have a little time before we need to leave" he said.

"You can't be serious?" she asked. In fact, it had been a couple of weeks since they had had sex. Hermione hadn't felt anything close to sexual desire in so long, but now, with George's hands on her body and the way he was looking at her, she almost couldn't resist.

"Oh dear wife, I am deadly serious" he said, pressing his growing erection against her behind as he reached into her dress to tweak her nipple.

Hermione closed her eyes. It had been a stressful day and the headache she was sporting could easily be disposed of with a well-placed orgasm. She looked at the clock on the wall and surrendered. She turned to face him and kissed him. Her belly prevented her pressing herself against him, but she did her best. He reached up under her dress and easily removed her knickers, placing them on the nightstand.

He reached up under her dress again and with his expert fingers, almost brought her to orgasm within seconds while she stood. She was panting with desire and desperate for more, but she couldn't bear her own weight any longer.

"How are we supposed to…? She asked, looking down at her belly.

"Easily" he said, removing her dress and hanging it neatly over a chair while he instructed her to lay on the bed with her feet hanging off the edge.

"Merlin, I don't think I'll ever get enough of you" he said leaning over her, careful not to put weight on her belly. He trailed kisses from her lips down her neck to her breasts. She was all sensation as he slipped two fingers inside of her, bringing her to the brink once again. He stood at the edge of the bed at her knees and, with a pillow under her backside, he agonisingly slowly entered her.

She moaned as he filled her, desperate for the friction. She hadn't realised that she needed this until she was getting it and now that she was getting it, it barely seemed to be enough.

"Move… you need to move, please" she almost begged, desperate for release.

"As you wish" he said, slowly thrusting, building a rhythm that didn't seem to be fast enough. She thought he must be taking it easy on her, but that's the very last thing she wanted.

"Faster" she begged, and he acquiesced.

Within seconds, Hermione's frustrations built, and she pulled him to the bed beside her and climbed on top, hurriedly easing herself down onto his throbbing erection. He was close, she could tell, so she moved in a way that hit every sensitive spot, and within moments, she cried out in an orgasm that shook her body and released every built-up frustration from the last month.

She collapsed onto her side and closed her eyes, relishing in the moment.

"You're leaking" George said, bringing her crashing back into reality.

"What?" she demanded, looking down at the bed between her legs.

"No, I mean, milk. You're leaking" he said, capturing a drop from her breast with his finger.

"Oh wow. That's… I mean… That's bizarre" she said.

"Not unexpected" he said.

"Its not?" she asked.

"No" he said.

"And you know this how?" she asked.

"My dad told me a few things that books don't" he said.

"Right" she said, laying back down. She felt a little awkward. Her body was changing, and nothing would be the same.

As soon as her body recovered, she used her wand to clean herself up and got back into her dress. She fixed her hair and make up and put on her shoes.

"Ok, shall we go now?" she asked George as he zipped his trousers.

"Absolutely" he said, bringing her into his arms and kissing her. "I will absolutely never get enough of you" he said.

"And I, you" she responded.

They flood to the ministry and entered the ballroom where the previous events were held. It was like de-ja-vu for them both. They quickly found their seats and Hermione sat, grimacing in pain every now and then as the twins seemed to be practising for muggle football.

"Everything ok?" Ginny asked from across the table.

"Fine, just s few nasty kicks and a Braxton hicks or two" she said, rubbing her belly in soothing circles.

The event began with a few words from Kingsley and a speech from Harry. Hermione hadn't expected Harry to speak, however, when he did, he commanded the entire room's attention. He had earnt respect from not only the war and the battle, but from the auror's department. He was no longer the boy who lived, but the man who succeeded and the wizarding world's view of him was shifting.

The speeches were well thought out and focused on the healing and moving forward. Kingsley made special note of the way in which the younger generation was embracing the marriage law, gesturing to the obviously pregnant women in the room.

When the speeches were over, however, Hermione felt there was one major part missing. With a slight poke to one of the twins to get out of her ribs, she stood and made her way to the stage.

"Mrs Hermione Weasley, everyone. As we know, Hermione was instrumental in the downfall of Voldemort and has been a shining light of success or the marriage law. Despite initial hurdles, she and husband George Weasley are a couple to be admired. And if I am not mistaken, due in a few weeks with twins?" he said.

"That is right minister" she answered, placing her hand on her belly and taking a place at the centre of the stage.

"I have been receiving owls for weeks asking me to speak tonight and until just now, I have been adamant in my refusal. I have felt that what needed to be said, would be, however, as I sat listening to you, minister and you Harry, talking about the war and the battle and the downfall of Voldemort, I cant help but to feel a little disheartened. Yes, this day marks the end of a decades long war and the beginning of new things for our community, but are we made to believe that the ones who died shall be forgotten? Or so easily dismissed? There was mention of them by you both, which I applaud, however, I feel that this day needs to be a celebration of those who gave their lives for us to have ours. For us to be here, standing here, telling you how amazing we all are. The names of these young people, who barely had the opportunity to live before having it all taken from them need to be highlighted in events like these. Colin Creevy, who was the fiercest supporter and friend of ours, Fred Weasley, who was an incredibly loving, strong individual, Remus Lupin and his wife Tonks, who left behind their little boy. Even Lavender, who died but was brought back. What about Mad Eye Moody, who didn't have the opportunity to fight in the battle? Or Ted Tonks who went on the run to protect his family? Why do we not talk about these people? Why do we dance around the reality that they died? Why does not one single monument depict _their_ images? We all suffered, but they gave their _lives_ for us to sit here and gush about how may weeks pregnant we are and how delicious this food is. I'm so sick of being part of the golden trio, being sought out for articles for the Prophet, being praised as some kind of here. I'm not the hero, Colin, Fred, Mad Eye, Remus and both Tonks, even Snape. They're the real heroes. Celebrate them. Not us" she finished, looking out to the stunned audience.

"Quite right, quite right you are Hermione. And I for one would …." Kingsley began, but before he could continue, George stood and pointed his lumosed wand towards the ceiling. Those around him stood as well and pretty soon, the whole room had their wands lit and pointed upwards.

"For Fred" George called.

"And Lupin" called Harry.

"And Tonks" Ginny said out loud.

Pretty soon, the whole room was filled with dedications. Some to those Hermione didn't even know had died.

As the commotion wound down and Hermione made her way back to her seat, she felt an incredible twinge of something foreign in her belly, followed by a strange popping sensation deep inside of her and a gush of water between her legs.

She just stood in one place and looked around in fear. The people around were still getting back into their seats, so no one really noticed. Hermione made eye contact with George who had seen that something was off, and he was beside her in a moment. He looked to her face and to the floor where a puddle had formed.

"I think… the babies are coming" she whispered, vanishing the puddle with her wand.

Absolute fear was written all over George's face as he realised what was happening.

"Its to early. We still have 7 weeks. Its too early Hemione" he said, gesturing to Molly who was nearby to come.

"Molly, my waters have just broken" Hermione said.

"Oh dear, lets get you out of here" she said, ushering Hermione to the back of the room and out the doors.

"Seems like a little too much excitement for the Weasleys. Nevertheless, Hermione was right. We do need to place more emphasis on….." she heard Kingsley speak, but he was drowned out when they exited the room by a rush of pain that felt like it was cutting Hermione in half. She held in a scream that she so desperately wanted to let out, instead, breathing through the pain that she somehow knew would stop in a few seconds.

"How long have you been having contractions for my dear?" Molly asked.

"I… I've been having Braxton hicks all day, but didn't really think much of it" she said.

Molly placed her hand on the top of Hermione's belly and held her wand at the side, then waited. Within a few minutes, Hermione felt another pain, which built in intensity, peaked, then subsided.

"We need to get you to St Mungos dear, you're going to have these babies in the next hour" Molly said, a sudden tone of seriousness coming over her.

"Mum, its too early. These babies aren't due yet" George said, earning a serious stare from Molly.

"George, my dear, Hermione is almost fully dilated. She has probably been in labour all day, just not felt the contractions because of the way the babies have been positioned. Her waters have broken. She is going to feel the urge to push any moment now and when she does, the babies will come. There is no stopping it. We need to get her to St Mungos now" Molly said.

~~OvO~~

One floo travel, a lot of pain, a lot of cursing and many many tears later, Hermione and George welcomed to the world their twins.

Despite being so early, the babies needed very little intensive care. They were given oxygen for a few hours to help expand their underdeveloped lungs and and some steroids to speed up their development.

Around midnight, Hermione and George sat in the bed at St Mungos and held their children.

"Fred…" George said, looking at their son.

"And Rose" Hermione said, looking at their little girl.

"Hogwart's next Weasley twin terrorists" George said, receiving an eye roll from Hermione.

"You know, they were born on the anniversary of the battle of Hogwarts" George said.

"Yes, they were" she said.

"Strange, don't you think?" he asked.

"A little"

"Well, to think, this time last year, Voldemort had just been defeated, Harry and Ginny were snogging like crazy, you and Ron couldn't stop grinning at each other and I was a right mess, attempting to bring back Fred's ghost" he said.

"So much has changed"

"Except the Harry and Ginny part. That's my little sister. I shouldn't have to see that" he said.

"I think… remember how we spoke about the timing of the pregnancy?" she asked, after a few moments hesitation.

George looked down at the sleeping Fred in his arms and looked to Hermione.

"I don't want to know. These are our babies. They are a product of our love and our journey together. It has been me and you through this entire thing and I want to keep it that way" she said.

"I didn't want to say, but I think you're right. At first, months ago, I thought that I'd need to know. That I couldn't love them unless I knew for a fact that they were mine. But, now, as I hold this perfect creature in my arms, I know… these are our babies. Whether or not they came into being by our first encounters or your last with Ron, we are the ones who will love them like no other. I couldn't imagine not ever loving these little versions of us" he said.

"I will tell Ron that we had them tested and they're not his" Hermione said.

"I think that's best. It will save a lot of unwanted Christmas dinner table conversations" George said.

"I can't believe we're here" Hermione said.

"A lot quicker than I expected" he said.

"But here nevertheless" she said.

"What about NEWTS?" he asked.

"If I don't know enough by now, I will never know enough. I'll take the exams and accept whatever scores I get" she said.

"You mean to tell me, the Hermione Granger, is not stressing about exams?" he asked.

"Well, I'm a Weasley now. And I have better things to worry about" she said, leaning down and kissing baby Rose on the forehead.

Hermione watched as she screwed her little nose up and made a grunting sound.

"They're both so perfect" Hermione said.

"Just like their mum" he said, kissing Hermione on the forehead.

~~OvO~~

**SURPSISE, did that feel like the end? Because it is. The scene that I envisioned, that sparked this entire story, was the one from the last chapter, where Hermione sits at the table across from Ron and its quite evident that there is still something there. So everything from there onwards feels so forced. I wanted to rush this chapter because I don't want to do this story a disservice and leave it, or lose passion for it. **

**There will be an epilogue with Hermione sitting across from Ron at the Christmas table several years from now and we will find out what happened with the spark and were the twins really George's or were they always Ron's babies. I hope to have this up within 24 hours. **

**Thanks for reading, I hope you loved it as much as I loved writing it. All the smut included. **


	10. Chapter 10

EPILOGUE

10.5 years later

Hermione levitated the tray of potatoes to the table and turned to help Molly with the Gravy. It was another Christmas at The Burrow and the house was bursting with excitement, noise and holiday cheer.

She began arranging the items neatly on the overly extended table and turned large platters into many smaller ones sot hey could spread out.

"Hermione, wont you be a dear and tell everyone that dinner is ready?" Molly asked.

She nodded to the older witch, with whom she had developed a strong bond with over the years. Molly had helped Hermione in ways that could never be repaid. When Hermione was ready to enter the workforce, Molly was there to help with the twins. And when Hermione gave birth to her third child, a son named Colin, Molly was there to help with the twins.

When George stopped coming home and began withdrawing from Hermione, Molly was there to help with the twins. It had become a rocky road for the two of them at one point and Hermione thought on many occasions that it was all over, but with time and honesty, Hermione and George were able to build themselves something stronger than she ever thought possible. Their marriage was underpinned by the bond of friendship and fortified by love and intimacy, which some hadn't been able to build.

Ron's marriage with Lavender failed in its sixth year when Lavender slept with a work colleague. Ron was left to pick up the pieces after Lavender left to pursue her new relationship in Europe, leaving behind their two children, Hugo and Henry. Ron initially had no idea what to do, but with a little help, soon became the most incredibly doting father.

Harry and Ginny seemed to be quite the reproductive couple, currently expecting their seventh child. Ginny loved her large family and Harry didn't want their first born, James, to be an only child, so they just kept having children.

Bill and Fleur had three children and just as strong a marriage as when they first wed, while Percy and Penelope had two children and remained together.

Hermione walked out the back door and sent a jet of green sparks into the air.

The children, having known this to be a signal for dinner, stopped what they were doing and immediately ran for the door.

They reached Hermione and she stopped them before they could enter.

"Show me your hands" she said.

"Oh no, Fred, those are horrid. Go wash them…" Hermione said, ushering the redhead to the washing basin attached to the side of the shed. "Hugo, no way, not in this house, Victoire yours are lovely and clean, yours too Dominique, James and Lily don't you dare try and wipe that dirt on your pants, go and wash them, Rose that's close but not good enough, Henry that will do. Albus and Remi, you can not try and use magic to clean them, you're only 7. Soap and water please. Louis, no way. Lyra go see your mum, Polly, see daddy, he'll help you. Where's Lucy and Molly? Had Percy not arrived yet?" she commanded the attention of every one of her children and nieces and nephews.

"They're inside, reading. As usual" Ron said from somewhere behind the children.

"What about me? Can I come in? George asked her, showing her his hands.

"Oh no, yours are the worst" she said, batting him away as he tried to put them on her.

She watched as Harry helped his youngest, three-year-old Polly wash her hands and Ginny tended to their five-year-old Lyra. The older children helped the younger ones and there seemed to be a sense of synchronicity.

"Merlin, we have enough children here for two whole quidditch teams and a reserve set" George said ushering the freshly washed children through the door.

"Well Harry and Ginny can be the ones responsible for that" Hermione said.

"For what?" Ginny asked, carrying Polly.

"All these kids" George said.

"Yeah, well, what can you say? They wanted us to repopulate, we repopulated" Ginny said with a shrug as she put Polly down.

As the Weasley and Potters took their places at the table in the recently re-extended Burrow dining room, Hermione couldn't help but feel happy. There was life and love and a sense of serenity among the group.

As the children got older, they began to drift away from their parents, with Fred, Rose and Colin now sitting at the end of the table with the other older children. The ones remaining with their parents were Percy's five-year-old daughter Molly, Bill's six year old son, Louis, and Harry and Ginny's youngest, Lyra and Polly. It had become a god-send for Hermione, who had sat beside her children every year, cut their food and just about spoon fed them.

She watched from her end of the table as Fred meticulously cut his food into bite sized portions and expertly used his cutlery, Colin used a fork that he had used accidental magic to create the year before, and Rose messily shovelled anything and everything into her mouth. Hermione looked from Rose to Ron and back at her two other children.

Colin was absolutely and completely the image of George. Always creating something, working on an invention, trying new things and testing out different ways to prank his cousins and siblings. Fred was all Hermione. Studious, careful, intelligent. Initially, Hermione didn't think twice about the paternity of the twins. They were hers and George's children. As the twins aged though, Hermione quickly noticed things about Rose that weren't from her or from George.

When they were six, Hermione took them for some health checks and asked the healer for DNA testing to be done. The results shocked Hermione and she swore that she would never reveal the truth.

She remembered the meeting with the muggle doctor.

"Now, I'm glad you didn't bring the children in with you today, Mrs Weasley, because when I'm about to tell you could be difficult for them to hear" the doctor said.

"I'm guessing its bad news?" she asked, feeling like the tone of the doctor indicated that these were not George's children.

"Well, it depends what you were hoping for" he said.

"I was hoping that George would be their biological father" she said.

He pulled a piece of paper out from his desk drawer and narrowed his eyes at the small writing upon it.

"In the case of Fred Arthur Weasley, there is a one hundred per cent chance that he is the biological child of George Weasley" the doctor said. Hermione exhaled in relief.

"Well, that's quite a load off. Its been so many years of uncertainty" she said.

"I'm not finished… In the case of Rose Gene Weasley, there is a one hundred per cent chance that George Weasley is related to her biologically, but there is only a five per cent chance that he is the biological father" he said.

"I… I don't understand. How can this happen?" she asked.

"It seems as though the father of Rose is someone closely related to your husband. A brother perhaps" the doctor said.

Hermione explained the situation to the doctor who flicked through a large textbook and turned to her with a frown.

"Its very rare, quite rare indeed, however, I do believe that you conceived Rose first, with one brother, then Fred a day or so later. It is rare and doesn't usually happen, but occasionally, when a woman is with two men in the space of a few days of each other, and her body happens to have released two eggs that month, sometimes they can be fertilised by different men. Rare, but possible" he said.

Hermione was at odds with how she was feeling. She knew, somehow she knew all along that there was no way Rose was Georges daughter. She was so like Ron.

"Hermione?" came the voice of Geroge, bringing her out of her memory of that day.

"Oh, sorry, I was miles away" she said.

"You sure were" Ginny said.

"What were we saying?" she asked.

"We ought to put names in a hat for this next baby. We can't for the life of us think of a name" Ginny said.

"Oh, yeah, sure I'll be in on that. I can think of a few" she said.

"Well, you have to compete with the kids. The ones they came up with are atrocious" Harry said.

The conversation went on and Hermione was watching the various members around the table.

Her eyes met the eyes of Ron, who seemed to be watching her. As if no time had passed, her heart skipped a beat and her stomach ached. She felt her face redden as she looked away.

She loved George with everything that she was, yet, somehow, she would always love Ron.

~~OvO~~

**Thanks for reading this story and please keep up the reviews. I hope it met your expectations. Does everyone follow the children? See below for details on who's who in the Weasley Potter Zoo.**

**CHILDREN**  
**Hermione / George - Fred 10, Rose 10, Colin 8**  
**Ron / Lavender - Hugo 10, Henry 7**  
**Percy / Penelope - Lucy 10, Molly 5**  
**Bill / Fleur – Victoire 10, Dominique 8, Louis 6**  
**Harry / Ginny – James 10, Lily 9, Albus 7, Remi 7, Lyra 5, Polly 3,**

**Charlie ****didn't**** have any children, as his life was dedicated to dragons. He did marry and ended up happy. **


End file.
